An antique frame of Jusepe Ribera’s St Stephen, a 17th-century masterpiece that currently forms part of Heritage Malta’s National Museum of Fine Arts collection, has been restored thanks to an initiative of the Friends of the National Museum of Fine Arts.

Through a series of fundraising activities and the collection of membership fees, the organisation has managed to raise enough funds for the restoration.

The presentation of funds was made by Friends of the National Museum of Fine Arts president, Kenneth Zammit Tabona, to the museum’s senior curator, Sandro Debono, in front of Ribera’s masterpiece with its recently restored frame back in place. The frame was restored by John Pace.

The Friends of the National Museum of Fine Arts committee is planning further fundraising activities in order to sponsor other restoration projects within the same museum.

The National Museum of Fine Arts is located at the lower end of South Street in Valletta and is open to the public daily from 9am to 5pm.

Restoration works on The Virgin of Divine Grace, the titular painting at the Capuchins Church in Victoria, have also been completed by Prevarti Art Restoration and Conservation.

The painting, attributed to Maltese painter Stefano Erardi (1630-1716), was commissioned by the Canons of the Matrice of Gozo (today known as the Cathedral of Gozo) and commemorates a very destructive earthquake in January 1693.

Over 300 years of exposure to the elements had taken their toll on the pictorial layer and the structure of the painting.

An enlargement to fit the stone frame in the present church and various punctures for crowns (which were stolen and replaced again) had also left adverse effects on the work.

Restoration works were made possible with the support of Bank of Valletta.

An information board explaining the significance of the painting, its history and a synopsis of the restoration project has also been placed inside the church.