The vault painting of Alessio Erardi’s Presentation of the Virgin at the Temple, at the Church of Our Lady of Victory in Valletta, has finally been revealed after painstaking restoration to remove centuries of grime.
The result is that what we can now see is only the original
Freed of inappropriate over-painting and damaging varnish, as well as salt efflorescent resulting from water infiltration, the painting reveals a rich tableau painted with great movement and colour by Erardi, a Maltese baroque artist whose work is being re-valued by art historians.
A leading component of the restoration project by Din l-Art Ħelwa, for the first church of Valletta, is the conservation of its unique vault paintings by the Courtauld Institute of Art, London. This has been made possible through the support of the HSBC Malta Foundation.
“Our team has worked for four months on this particular scene, which was in a very bad state. The challenge was to ensure we did not lose any of the original Erardi paint when removing varnishes, salts and over-painted layers,” said Lisa Shekede, the senior Courtauld conservator working on the project.
“The result is that what we can now see is only the original. The colours that have emerged are magnificent.”
The image shows the Virgin as a young maiden presented to Simeon at the Temple accompanied by her father and mother, St Joachim and St Anne, escorted by candle bearers, while the Archangel Gabriel watches overhead.
The vault paintings were commissioned in 1714 by Grand Master Ramon Perellos to Erardi, who painted episodes from the life cycle of the Virgin on the ceiling in grand monumental proportion.
The Grand Master funded the work himself, continuing the tradition of the great devotion of the Order of St John to the Blessed Virgin and following in the footsteps of Grand Master Jean Parisot de Valette.
The founder of Valletta and hero of the Great Siege had built the original church with his own funds in 1566, after he dedicated his victory on September 8, 1565, to the Virgin Mary.
The Church of Our Lady of Victory is open from Monday to Friday from 8.30am to 4pm with Mass daily at 8.45am and on Saturday at 7pm. On weekends the church is open from 10am to 4pm.