They were among the first students at the Institute for Conservation and Restoration Studies in Bighi. They are Maltese, competent, young and keen. On the initiative of The St John’s Co-Cathedral Foundation, Paul Muscat and Agatha Grima have now completed an eight-month restoration of the two wooden organ cases in St John’s Co-Cathedral.

The cases can now be enjoyed by the congregation and visitors to the church – gleaming with gold decoration, suitably flanking Mazzuoli’s Gloria with its gilt rays.

However, despite the restoration of the cases, the organ has now fallen silent for around six weeks as the ‘relais’, the organ’s sound mechanism, has been returned to its maker, Mascioni of Varese – who installed it in the 1960s – for restoration and maintenance work.

The organ at the back of the choir is not the first organ of St John’s. In 1662, during the reign of Grand Master Rafael Cotoner, it was proposed that the old organ be moved to the back of the church, over the main door. But with the death of the grand master, the project was abandoned. Two years later, the new Grand Master, Nicolas Cotoner, the brother of his predecessor, decided that the old organ should be moved to the gallery above the doorway of the oratory, where it has stayed.

Two new organs were thus ordered for the choir in May 1664. The original pipe organ does not survive today. It was attributed to Sicilian maker Santo Romano, while the work on the organ cases – suitably gilded in line with the ongoing restoration of the conventual church – was undertaken by Antonio Maria Ridolfo, Domenico D’Alberti and Giovanni Simone Quercio.

The two organ cases were enlarged in the 1960s, when the new pipes and electrical parts were added to the organ. The two young restorers also found out that there is a considerable difference between the two cases. The one next to the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament is far better made and its gilding is thicker. They suspect that this was the work of the master gilder, who could, however, have been taking too much time over it. When the Grand Master began to complain, a second team was brought in to do the second case, but the work was less careful, and the gilding thinner, than that of the master gilder.

The restoration of the organ cases consisted of the cleaning, disinfestation and consolidation of the wooden fabric and reintegration of the wood and gilded parts. Before the work

commenced, a full study of the requirements and related documentation through photographs and graphics was carried out by the restorers.

Over the years, as in other parts of the cathedral, the gilding had become covered with dust and when this was periodically removed, the gold lost its lustre. And maybe, as some have hypothesised with regard to the Gloria, the fading of the lustre could have been the result of one of the interventions by the Nazarene school of thought in the 19th century, but this is still a hypothesis.

Both organ cases have an intricate baroque design and are decorated with carved and gilded elements. These decorative elements include gilt foliage, scrolls and supporting caryatids, together with armorial shields bearing the coat-of-arms of Grand Master Nicolas Cotoner and that of the Order. The gilt is 24-carat gold.

During the restoration work, some nails were discovered embedded in the cases, maybe put there in order to facilitate the hanging of the violet drapes that used to cover the Gloria on Good Friday. These were therefore removed. The newly restored organ cases reflect the competence and skills of the young professional restorers.

Paul Muscat and Agatha Grima form part of the restoration cooperative ReCoop, which was established in November 2003. Today, the cooperative has 10 employees – including five of its original members – and has its laboratory at Mriehel. However, most of the work on the organ cases was carried out on site in St John’s.

From small beginnings, ReCoop has carried out a considerable amount of restoration projects in the co-cathedral. These include the restoration of the Flagellation by Stefano Pieri, the Crucifixion Group that is attributed to Alessandro Algardi and all the paintings in the sacristy – those of St Sebastian, two popes and two grand masters.

The cooperative is also responsible for the restoration of the Nicolas Cotoner monument, which has proved to be an appropriate preparation for the cooperative’s next major task: the restoration of the Chapel of Aragon. This is one of the most prestigious chapels in St John’s, with no fewer than four monuments to grand masters and an impressive St George, the very first painting by Mattia Preti for St John’s – his visiting card, so to speak – in that he painted it while still in Naples and it introduced his genius to Malta. This painting has already been restored in Italy.

While I was interviewing Paul and Agatha, they were advised that the erection of scaffolding in the Chapel of Aragon had been completed and that they could therefore begin the restoration work.

While carrying out restoration work in St John’s is undoubtedly the most prestigious project given to the cooperative, especially since these are the first to be given to a Maltese restoration cooperative, they have been carrying out other restoration work elsewhere.

They were involved in the restoration of the Carmelite Priory in Mdina, especially the very badly damaged reredos, and are currently restoring the vault in Mdina cathedral. They had a hand in the Caravaggio exhibition mounted by the St John’s Co-Cathedral Foundation some years ago, and they are also involved, along with others, in the considerable and extensive restoration of the Valletta and Vittoriosa bastions.

One particular restoration project – about which they love speaking – has been the restoration of the many old paintings found in various chapels in Siggiewi. The people of this village have clearly appreciated the restoration work, since they contributed to the cost of the work.

Meanwhile, the St John’s Co-Cathedral Foundation is carrying out the restoration of the Madonna of Philhermos (also known as the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament), which should be completed by November. The next big projects for the foundation over the winter months are, as already revealed in this paper, the restoration of the Cappella Ardente and the restoration of the Bartolott Crypt, which – I am told by the cathedral’s curator Cynthia de Giorgio – is intended to become an exhibition space for the cathedral’s silver treasures.

Meanwhile, an architectural survey is being undertaken on the building’s exterior to check on the outer stonework. If sufficient sponsorship is found, work may also be undertaken to restore the façade of the cathedral. Meanwhile, the portico is due to be given a facelift, in anticipation of the Pope’s visit next year.

As to the next restoration task on wood, this will probably be the restoration of the pulpit to its original gilding, just like the organ cases. It should be noted that the Foundation is carrying out a number of projects at the same time in order to preserve the Co-Cathedral for the appreciation of the congregation and the thousands of tourists that visit it every week: St John’s is, of course, one of the country’s main tourist attractions.