What can a museum exhibiting all 29 tapestries from the St John’s Co-Cathedral Foundation represent for Malta, its tourism and for the Maltese people?

 

This set of tapestries is the largest complete series of tapestries in the world and covers a total area of 730 m² with a length of 120 running metres. The 29 tapestries of the collection measure 6.3 m in height and 6.2 in width for the most part. They are also the tallest ancient tapestries ever to be woven. Ordered by Grand Master Perellos y Roccaful, they are mostly woven after cartoons by P. P. Rubens, the artist who probably left the most indelible mark on baroque art in the whole of Europe. Many of the compositions of this wall hanging, such as the Crucifixion, the Adoration of the Magi, the Triumphs of Caritas, Faith, Eucharist etc, are among the most representative icons of this master’s art.

This series was intended to decorate the chancel and the nave of the Cathedral on specific occasions. The aim was to create an overwhelming effect on the faithful through its sheer dimensions, its colours and its exceptional baroque style and vigour and leave a lasting impression on the congregation.

At the end of the 20th century, the tapestries were in disastrous condition with tears and large gaps in the perished silks and in the corroded brown wools. Exhibited in wretched conditions in the Cathedral’s museum, with practically no room to stand back and admire the qualities of the artwork, the tapestries were pitiable to see, whereas the donor’s aim was exactly the opposite.

Since that date, a huge conservation campaign on the initiative of the St John’s Co-Cathedral Foundation has been undertaken and I had the honour of conducting it. It will be completed in January 2018. On that date, Valletta will be the European Capital of Culture and all eyes will be focused on the city.

The question that should be asked is: what might be the role and consequently the importance of this wall hanging for Malta, its citizens and its economy?

Malta cannot merely evoke a picture of sunshine, beaches and summer pleasures. Malta is a nerve centre, where Europe and the East come face to face, as represented by the Order of Malta, and has considerable cultural potential. This is increasingly what visitors to the island are looking for and Malta can develop its attractiveness and find its true place on the map of Europe by promoting these unique cultural qualities. 

If Malta is to consolidate this cultural profile, the country needs strong images that make it immediately recognisable in the other countries of Europe. Among those images, the Cathedral’s Rubensian wall hanging could be at the forefront in playing a prominent role; unfortunately, it has been completely forgotten because of the poor condition in which it was left. This gigantic work of art of the first rank has such a potential attraction for the general public that it can be placed alongside the two other artistic highlights – the Cathedral’s baroque decoration and the two paintings by Caravaggio. There is no doubt that all the 29 tapestries hanging side by side over a perimeter of 120 m will leave quite a unique impression in the world. This grand series can become one of the key elements in the country’s cultural landscape and an asset envied by the world.

There is, of course, a prerequisite and that prior condition is to be able to exhibit all the 29 pieces at the same time as was imagined at the outset by the Grand Master. It is the only way to obtain that overwhelming awesome effect on the public which the Grand Master of the Order of Malta wished to achieve.

The St John’s Co-Cathedral Foundation has put forward plans to extend and refurbish the museum. I can only advocate that it should be possible for the future museum to exhibit the entire wall hanging and for sightseers to step back and appreciate this series of outstanding tapestries. Such a decision would do honour to the basic concept that underlies their creation and so make it possible once again to captivate a larger audience and enrich the country’s cultural profile.

 

Yvan Maes De Wit

President of De Wit Royal Manufacturers of Tapestry

Belgium