Sixteenth-century titular painting restored at Our Lady of Victory Church, Valletta

SIXTEENTH-CENTURY TITULAR PANEL PAINTING ‘NATIVITY OF THE VIRGIN’ RESTORED

At Our Lady of Victory Church, Valletta

The painting before and after restoration.

The titular Mannerist painting on wood of the ‘Nativity of the Virgin’, within Our Lady of Victory Church in Valletta, has been restored. Din l-Art Ħelwa is entrusted with the guardianship of this church. This was the first church and building in Valletta and was dedicated to the Nativity of the Virgin by Grand Master Jean de Valette and the Order of St John after their victory at the Great Siege. Her feast was to be celebrated in perpetuity each year on 8th September. It is believed that this panel painting stood above the altar of the first church of 1567, and was later moved up high into its elaborate carved niche when the church was enlarged. Seated propped on cushions, the painting depicts St Anne, the Mother of the Virgin having been delivered of her child. She is being offered food by a servant while St Joachim, Mary’s father, prays and observes the midwives tending to the infant’s needs. It is thought that the painting may be the only one in Malta depicting the birth of the Virgin.

Until recently the original sixteenth-century paint layer was not visible, under layers of overpaint and darkened varnish applied over the years. The paint layer was also in a rather unstable condition and had begun to exhibit localised paint liftings and losses. Hence Din l-Art Ħelwa, under the direction of Simone Mizzi, and with experts from the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage, initiated the process of saving and bringing to light this important painting. Conservation works were entrusted to Amy Sciberras

Conservators—Fine Arts Restoration. The project was made possible with the support of PwC Malta as part of their ten-year programme of assistance to this church. Conservator Amy Sciberras commenced with preliminary investigations of the panel painting in 2021. Following this study, conservation works started in January of this year whereby the painting was fully stabilised through consolidation treatments of the various strata comprising this painting, cleaned from past retouchings, varnish and overpaint—hence revealing more details of the original composition. Chromatic integration of uncovered and infilled losses were carried out, as the removal of old and altered past retouchings revealed damage which the painting had suffered over the years. As explained by Simone Mizzi, extraordinary details within the painting were rediscovered, including the platter of dried fruit being offered to the Virgin, the elaborate hair styles and footwear of the maidservants, the tie cords on the midwife’s belt, the black and white swans on the bottom left, the elaborate pitcher of water, and the bright flash of the white towel being heated to warm the infant against the fire, an iconography of tenderness at birth. These interventions were carried Conservator Amy Sciberras applies out within the church itself by utilising first aid treatments to the titular a purposely made scaffolding system painting prior to restoration. carefully assembled by Agius Stone Works Ltd. This ensured that the panel painting could be restored in situ, avoiding climatic changes during the conservation process. n