Painting uncovered as dome of the Mdina Cathedral Museum is painstakingly restored

For more than a century, the dome of the chapel within the Mdina Cathedral Museum looked unadorned and bare. Visitors to the premises, a former seminary, would merely see a white ceiling which contrasted sharply with the rest of the baroque chapel. Mgr Edgar Vella realised something was amiss ever since he was appointed museum curator some 25 years ago. “I perceived by pure intuition that in such a highly-ornate baroque chapel it was impossible that the dome was not decorated. Besides, while observing the ceiling, I could decipher that there were faint signs of decorative motifs,” he told the Times of Malta. At what Mgr Vella called an “opportune” time, the museum contacted fine arts conservator and restorer Amy Sciberras in 2016 to test and analyse whether there could be any concealed paintings. “I spent several weeks of testing in order to formulate and develop a methodology for the uncovering of these paintings, which methodology was in fact specific to this particular site and situation,” Ms Sciberras explained. This involved the removal of an uppermost white coating and, subsequently, the removal of a blue coating which was in direct contact with the original painted...