Malta’s largest trompe d’oeil was raised into position at the Gozo Cathedral 280 years ago. It is now in the process of being lowered to be taken for restoration. This work of art was created by Antonio Manuele, known as Pippi, a Sicilian scenographer from Messina. In fact, it was put in place on March 24, 1739. The trompe d’oeil is similar to others found at Sant’Ignazio in Rome (1695) by Andrea Pozzo, at the Badia delle Sante Flora e Lucilla, Arezzo (1702), at the Duomo di San Massimo, L’Aquila (1703), which was destroyed by an earthquake in 2009 and at the Jesuite-nuniversitäts-kirche in Vienna (1705).

The dome or trompe d’œil (French for ‘deceive the eye’) is an art technique that uses realistic imagery to create the optical illusion that the depicted objects exist in three dimensions. It is difficult to figure out whether it is really a dome or just a flat ceiling.

A huge scaffolding had to be raised on the presbytery to carry out this highly delicate operation. The restoration is being carried out by PrevArti of Mosta. The work will be carried out inside the cathedral itself and at PrevArti laboratory.

The project, partly sponsored by EU funds, is expected to take almost a year.