Volunteers at Din l-Art Ħelwa never cease to wonder at how miracles do happen. One at a time, the seven Mattia Preti paintings, which adorn the little Sarria Church in Floriana, are finding donors who generously invest funds in Corporate Responsibility to support the restoration of these heritage jewels.
This time, it is Mr. Paul Mifsud, Managing Director Sparkasse Bank Malta plc, who has offered to fund the restoration necessary to return the St Nicholas oil painting to its original splendour. Giuseppe Mantella Restauri have committed to complete the work within a few months.
The Saint Nicholas of Bari is one of the seven works painted by Fra Mattia Preti, il Cavaliere Calabrese, on commission by Grandmaster Nicholas Cottoner as a pledge to the Blessed Assumption for deliverance from the plague in 1676. This particular painting depicts the Grandmaster's patron Saint, St. Nicholas of Bari, who is said to have saved a group of infants from being martyred in a cauldron of boiling water. The young children appear at the foot of the Saint, while on the opposite side a putto holds a sheaf of Cotton, representing Grandmaster Cottoner's coat of arms.
Din l-Art Ħelwa is grateful to Sparkasse Bank Malta plc and trusts that the new legislation regulating tax rebates on funds provided for the salvage of our heritage will encourage other serious donors to offer their support for finalising the last two remaining works by Preti still awaiting restoration at Sarria.