St John the Baptist Statue Restored
The President, Dr Michael Grech, the Secretary General, Marchesino Josef Formosa Gauci, and Council Members Benoit Musy and Stephen Ellul Sullivan, represented the Council and the members of the Maltese Association at Mass followed by an event, to inaugurate the restoration of a late medieval statute of St. John the Baptist.
The statute was brought to Malta by the Order from Rhodes, and was installed aboard the Gran Carracca, following which it was transferred to St. Paul’s Grotto in Rabat and then to the old church in Dingli.
Valentina Lupo, the restorer, advised that it is a very fine piece and must have been important to the Order, as it is covered entirely in gold leaf (which she discovered after commencing the restoration and removing the layers of paint that had accumulated over the centuries). The restoration also revealed the coat of arms of Grand Master l’Isle Adam as well as the eight pointed cross on the front of the statute. Our late lamented Fra’ John Critien had contributed towards the initial restoration costs, and the MASMOM settled the balance he had undertaken to pay.
