St Lawrence lunetteSt Lawrence lunette

APS Bank has taken the initiative to sponsor the restoration of an important painting by Mattia Preti assisting The St John’s Co-Cathedral Foundation in its ambitious project to restore the entire Chapel of the langue of Aragon which commenced a few months ago. The painting depicting The Martyrdom of St Lawrence fits in one of the two lunettes of the chapel.

An examination of the state of The Martyrdom of St Lawrence showed that the canvas had suffered several tears and that the wooden frame had deformed weakening the tension of the canvas. The paint layers lacked cohesiveness and the risk of losing some of the pictorial areas was imminent. The painting had previously undergone restoration where it was glued to a wooden support and was heavily over-painted and given several layers of varnish which had oxidised and darkened the canvas. As a result, the painting which is typical of Preti’s mature style, forceful in both composition and technique, had lost much of its aesthetic appeal masking the vibrant colours and sharp draughtsmanship for which Preti is well known. The restoration procedure shall consist of the removal of the wooden support, the old varnishes and the over-painting. This will be followed by consolidation of the pictorial layers and relining after which the painting will be fitted with a new stretcher frame.

This restoration project was entrusted to RECOOP, an expert local firm of restorers.