The statue of the Virgin Mary of the Holy Rosary, sculptured in wood and kept at Xagħra parish church, is undergoing conservation and restoration. The task is led by established restorer Manwel Zammit.

The statue, the work of sculptor Alexander Farrugia of Żejtun, goes back to 1848. It was commissioned by Xagħra parish for processional functions all year round during festivities dedicated to the Virgin Mary under several titles.

It also used to be carried shoulder-high during the titular feast of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary on September 8 until the arrival of the current Marseille statue in 1878.

No interventions have ever been made to the statue over the past 163 years. It still enjoys the original polychromatic hues and colours as applied by the sculptor himself.

The restoration consists mainly of cleaning the many layers of soot which have accumulated along the years, conserving the statue’s original colours and filling in the cracks which have developed between the strips of wood.