A portrait of Judge Vincenzo Bonavita, who served under the Knights of St John, the French and the British, has been restored by the Chamber of Advocates.

The painting is one of the oldest items in the collection housed at the Chamber of Advocates’ premises.

It underwent a conservation and restoration procedure thanks to the donation by two of the judge’s descendants – brothers Roger and Martin Vella Bonavita.

The first Bonavita to come to Malta was a Venetian Judge named Biagioin 1600.

The Bonavitas flourished in Malta and were mainly lawyers, judges and notaries. Vincenzo Bonavita (1752-1829) served as the first Procurator of the “Sodalita di Sant’ Ivone di Malta” set up in the early 19th century at the Jesuits Church in Valletta.

The late judge’s descendants moved to Perth, in Western Australia, in the early 1980s and only learnt of the existence of this painting last year.

Chamber president George Hyzler thanked the Bonavita family for funding the restoration, carried out by PrevArti restorers and conservators.