BOV supports restoration of St Joseph statue
Miraculous statue to receive professional conservation
Bank of Valletta is supporting the conservation and restoration of the crowned statue of St Joseph and Baby Jesus, known as San Guzepp ix-xih (the old St Joseph), at the Church of St Mary of Jesus in Rabat. The restoration project by the Archconfraternity of St Joseph has been entrusted to professional conservation company Atelier del Restauro.
The 16th century polychrome wooden statue, originally a decorative statue on one of the galleys of the Knights of the Order, was brought to Malta in 1530 and was immediately revered by the Maltese who looked up to it when they needed some grace, be it personal, familiar or national. In 1920, that statue was placed in a niche above the altar where it can easily be worshipped by its followers.
The restoration project was launched through a presentation to the public prior to the statue being moved to the conservator’s laboratory.
“The 500-year-old statue, crowned through a decree by Pope Pius XII in 1956 is now in dire need of professional restoration,” said Anthony Casha, rector of the Archconfraternity. “The restoration is a necessary measures so that this statue will be a beacon of worship for many more years to come.”
“The conservation of our rich heritage is a main pillar of the Bank’s Community Programme,” said Charles Azzopardi, executive head PR and Marketing at Bank of Valletta. “The bank was one of the first organisations to pledge its support to the church following the recent collapse of the ceiling above the main altar and we are proud to also collaborate in this project.”
“Following a scientific study of the statue undertaken in 2015, we detected various cracks in the woodwork as well as the overlying ‘gesso’ additions and the various interventions from past restoration works,” said Valentina Lupo and Maria Grazia Zenzani from Atelier del Restauro. “Our aim is to repair these cracks, then detect the oldest well conserved paint layer of the statue and integrate losses on the statue’s polychrome layer. The restoration process is expected to take around five months.”