The rich colours of the majestic altarpiece of St Ursula in the Gozo cathedral have been restored recently by Emanuel Zammit.

Mr Zammit spent several weeks painstakingly removing the dark varnish from the altarpiece, which was originally painted by the Nazarene artist Giuseppe Hyzler in 1851 and is widely considered to be one of his best works.

The painting is also signed by another artist, Canon Gaetano Bondi, who actually donated the altarpiece to the cathedral, his coat of arms are visible at the foot of the canvas.

St Ursula, a virgin martyr of Cologne, is said to have been a British princess who set sail with a great company of maidens and arrived in Cologne, in what is now Germany. There she accepted martyrdom and, together with her maidens, is now glorified in the kingdom of heaven.

A beautiful bust of the saint, carved in wood and containing relics, is kept in one of the chapels of the cathedral church and of course an altar is also dedicated to her. One of the bells recently acquired by the cathedral church has also been named after the virgin martyr, whilst a street in Victoria has long been named after the saint.