Wirt Ghawdex Gozo, together with the Cathedral Chapter, are holding an organ recital and talk on the occasion of the inauguration of the Restored Cathedral Dome.
An invitation is extended to Wirt Ghawdex members and their friends to attend this Friday, the 13th of December, starting at 7.00pm at the Cathedral Church.
There will be an organ recital by Franco Cefai, then in the interval there will be a talk – Il-koppla fil-Katidral ta’ Ghawdex u tpingijiet simili – The Gozo Cathedral dome and similar perspective dome paintings, a power point presentation by Joe Zammit-Ciantar, Senior Lecturer – University of Malta.
A trompe l’oeil was created in 1739 by Antonio Pippi (mid-18th century, after Padre Andrea Pozzo). It was installed on the 24th of March 1739 in to the Gozo Cathedral to create the image of a cupola without the need of building one.
The process of conservation and restoration was started in January this year, carried out by PrevArti of Mosta – please see here for the details [1]. The painting was last restored prior to the current intervention in 1823.
The official inauguration is taking place on Saturday evening.
Photograph of half the painting being lowered by JJP Zammit