Planning Authority supports conservation of the Great Siege paintings at the Grandmaster’s Palace

Thanks to a donation of €75,000 by the Planning Authority, professional conservators and Master’s students within the University’s Department of Conservation and Built Heritage, Faculty for the Built Environment, are continuing the conservation of the detailed and historically accurate wall paintings illustrating the 1565 Great Siege.

The three-year conservation project, funded through donations raised by the Research, Innovation & Development Trust of the University of Malta (RIDT), builds on the work begun in the 2000s, but which was unfortunately discontinued by the University of Dresden.

During a site visit to the D’Aleccio paintings, Perit Vincent Cassar, PA chairperson, said: “The Planning Authority wholeheartedly chose to support this project because of its two-fold approach. Not only will the project ensure that these prestigious wall paintings are professionally restored, but it will serve to provide our future generation of conservators with the training and practical experience they require. It is only by exposing our students to such high-level professional projects within a closely-supervised setting that they can excel in this discipline and gain first-hand experience in the conservation of decorative architectural surfaces.

“Besides continuing with our responsibility to give protection status to our cultural and architectural heritage, we will continue to support projects such as the D’Aleccio project to demonstrate our commitment towards the preservation and conservation of our national treasures,” he continued.

This funding allows the continuation of the project which the Department took on in 2018, said Prof. JoAnn Cassar, head of the Department of Conservation & Built Heritage. “Leading onto the actual conservation interventions, which will take place this year, the Department’s professional conservators and Master’s students have already undertaken extensive archival research, as well as detailed on-site investigations using an array of non-invasive techniques, to identify and document past events such as previous restorations or war damage, which all have significant implications for the paintings’ ongoing interpretation and conservation,” she continued.

The project includes the full participation of graduates following the MSc in Conservation of Decorative Architectural Surfaces at the Department of Conservation & Built Heritage, the Department’s own professional conservators, as well as Heritage Malta conservators and curators.

The paintings were executed by Italian artist, Matteo Pérez D’Aleccio (1547-before 1616), who was specifically invited over to Malta in 1577 to depict the Great Siege events by Grand Master Fra Jean de la Cassière himself. The Great Siege is depicted in 12 episodes interspaced by allegorical figures as a frieze decorating the upper part of the walls of the Throne Room at the Grandmaster’s Palace, presenting the four-month siege in a narrative sequence.

“The University of Malta is honoured, through its Department of Conservation & Built Heritage, to be participating in this rich, collaborative project that plays a role in preserving our Maltese identity. This latest injection of capital, through the University’s RIDT is a sign we should support in all possible ways, the important work of our conservators, present and future, enabling this and other important works of art to be enjoyed by present generations and those to come,” said Prof. Alfred J. Vella, UM rector.

Also present at the site visit to the Palace, which is currently closed to the public, were Minister for the Environment, Climate Change & Planning, Aaron Farrugia and Minister for National Heritage, the Arts and Local Government, Dr José Herrera. Both ministers recognised the importance of preserving our cultural heritage which will ultimately attract the right quality of audiences to appreciate our rich history.

Noel Zammit, CEO of Heritage Malta, represented the conservators working on the project, as well as the curators, who are collaboratively advising on the historical and art historical aspects of the project.

The project has been estimated to cost a total of €300,000. RIDT had also previously secured the support of the Gasan Foundation who provided an initial generous donation which helped to kick off the project and is in discussion with other entities who have shown interest in supporting this same project or similar ones.