20 March 2007 Rating 17% No Comment  

The ancient painting of St Lazarus has been restored and returned to St George's Basilica, it is now being displayed for viewing in the Aula Mons Giuseppe Farrugia. People who are familiar with the painting remember it as being in a grievous state of deterioration. The restoration project was carried out by the highly qualified Godwin Cutajar and it was sponsored by the Malta-based Military and Hospitaller Order of St Lazarus of Jerusalem. The late John Bezzina, author of Il-Pittura fil-Ba?ilika ta' San ?or? (1965), states that this painting preceded the one that currently hangs above the altar dedicated to the biblical Saint and was painted in 1620. It was the year when the Confraternity of St Lazarus, known also as Il-Fratellanza tal-Karita' was founded. It was on the suggestion of the archpriest, Mgr Joseph Farrugia, way back in 2004, that the Order of St Lazarus sponsored the restoration of a painting that depicted its Patron Saint. It is said that the existence of an altar dedicated to St Lazarus is uncommon in the Maltese islands. Indeed we know of no other church in Malta and Gozo with a cult of St Lazarus, whose remains, first buried in Bethany, are venerated in the Byzantine cathedral of Larnaka, Cyprus. The marble sarcophagus beneath the altar of the cathedral is said to hold only part of the remains of the Saint. People who have already viewed the restored canvas are full of praise for the restorer. The multi-faceted activity of the restorer included the separation of the stretcher from the canvas, the latter's re-lining and mounting on a new support, consolidation of the oils and the removal of the surface dirt, and filling in where paint was missing without interfering with the original work of the artist. It has been a painstaking and time-consuming project that required the painting to remain eleven months at the studio in Fontana. The painting will eventually be permanently housed in the Basilica museum.