A scientific conservation exercise on one of the finest and most significant Early Renaissance paintings in Malta has been completed.

The exercise, with the support of Banif Bank (Malta) plc, was carried out by the University of Malta’s Research Programme for the Study of Late Medieval and Renaissance Art.

This undertook diagnostic analysis of the painting, and embarked on a conservation and restoration intervention to restore it to its former glory and give it back its original qualities.

The work comes from the inner circle of Antonello da Messina and represents the Enthroned Madonna and Child.

It is the surviving central panel of a triptych, commissioned for the old parish church of Zejtun around the first decade of the sixteenth century.

The delicate work was carried out by Recoop - The Restoration and Conservation Coop Ltd, which removed layers of over-painting and gave back the work a close approximation of its original appearance.

The painting was first restored in 1672 by Pietro Nunez de Villavicentio who added his signature. The restoration exercise removed his over-painting.