2013 is the 400th Anniversary of the birth of Mattia Preti. Preti, born at Taverna, in Calabria, became official artist of the Order of St John. Having lived in Malta most of his life, he became known as ‘Il cavaliere calabrese’ and he left the island a great artistic legacy.

Din l-Art Helwa has been committed to celebrate his anniversary through the restoration of one of his works of art and this has now been made possible through a generous sponsorship of Shireburn Software Ltd on the occasion of its 30th anniversary.

Sarria Church was built in 1676 on the site of an earlier church constructed in 1574 which was also dedicated to the Immaculate Conception. Sarria takes its name from the Italian birth place of the Knight who built the early church, Sarria.

In December 1675 there was an outbreak of plague in Marsamxetto which quickly spread to Valletta, to Senglea and by April 1676 had spread to Zurrieq. Malta lost a third of its population. Grand Master Nicholas Cottoner felt that only the divine intercession of the Immaculate Conception, with her renowned power over evil, could stop the plague and he ordered that Sarria’s small church be rebuilt in grander style as a vote of thanksgiving for her intercession.

He commissioned Mattia Preti to design it and the artist in fact took charge of its building. It is the only known church in the world to have been designed and built by Preti and houses no less than seven paintings all by him.

These artistic contents including the monumental titular painting, weredesigned to fit architecturally into the stone housings the artist created for them and all saints depicted are connected in some way with the deadly disease. In May 1676 Mattia Preti presented the Grand Master with a model of the church. The plague was halted.

The Sarria Immaculate Conception is unique and rare in that it captures on canvas the symbolic victory over the plague in Malta, and of good over evil. The Virgin stands surrounded by angels over a background of boats that ferry the sick from Lazaretto over to Valletta.

Above her figure God the Father and the Divine Spirit, all look down at the triumph of good over evil. The Virgin is surrounded by Archangels who, victorious, return their shields to their scabbards.

The other saints depicted on canvas in the church are all related to the plague amongst them the St Sebastian, restored by DLH last year, and St Roque.

The painting of The Immaculate Conception had suffered from neglect over time, and its canvas had separated from its stretcher frame. Din l-Art Helwa was restoring the St Sebastian when it noticed that the painting had collapsed under its own weight and was detaching from the main wall over the altar.

Acting with the support of the Superintendence of Cultural heritage, Dr Anthony Pace, Din l-Art Helwa was able to take emergency action and intervene thus saving it from collapsing. The restoration work was commissioned to Giuseppe Mantella Restauri. Dott Giuseppe Mantella, who also hails from Calabria in Italy, has restored many other Mattia Preti works in Malta including the lunette in St John’s Co Cathedral.

DIN L-Art Helwa plan to put the restored titular painting back into its place over Sarria’s main altar in time for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on the 8th December, while work will continue on its massive stone carved frame in January 2014.

Simone Mizzi speaking for DLH said the organisation was extremely grateful to Shireburn Software for recognising the enormous value of Sarria’s Titular Immaculate Conception and for the generous support that has made its restoration possible.

Shireburn’s directors said that it “felt that it was fitting to mark the company’s important 30th anniversary milestone by contributing to Malta’s heritage by saving a masterpiece to be enjoyed for years to come. This initiative forms part of Shireburn’s CSR strategy to continue to invest back into the society in which it operates, more so this being its 30th year in operation.”

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