The Icon of Our Lady of Damascus will undergo restoration. Photo: Mark Zammit CordinaThe icon of Our Lady of Damascus at the Greek Catholic Church will be undergoing restoration later this month, with the work expected to cost thousands of euros, Archimandrite George Mifsud Montanaro said.
The icon is around 1,100 years old and was brought to Malta by the Order of St John, who had been dismissed from Rhodes by the Ottomans and found home in Malta in 1523.
According to the conservators, the title of “Our Lady of Damascus” was given to the icon after some Knights claimed to have seen the work of art in Damascus.
Grand Master Jean de La Valette was rumoured to be a devotee of the icon, the conservators added.
When the Ottoman empire was defeated in the Great Siege of 1565 and fled Malta, La Valette and the Knights were quick to offer their gratitude to the icon for their victory.
Vincenzo Bonello restored the icon in the 1930s in order to prevent further deterioration. It also underwent a restoration intervention between 1963 and 1966 at the Central Institute of Art Restoration in Rome.
La Valette rumoured to have been a devotee of the icon
Fr Mifsud Montanaro says he believes it is time for the icon to be restored once again as cracks and deterioration had been spotted.
Abrasions and scratches of the pictorial layers resulting in an inhomogeneous paint and gilded surface, have also been noticed.
“We built a shrine for people to worship, but it still deteriorated over time,” he said, adding that work should be completed by early 2019.
The Atelier del Restauro, led by Maria Grazia Zenzani and Valentina Lupo, will be presenting the project on the conservation and restoration of the Icon of Our Lady of Damascus on June 22. The event will be held at St Nicholas Church, Merchants Street, Valletta.