The Cittadella’s Trompe L’Oeil returned to its home in an extremely delicate operation that had to be planned to the last detail.

The Trompe L’Oeil is an art technique that uses realistic imagery to create the optical illusion that the depicted objects exist in three dimensions. While the ceiling looks like a dome, it is actually flat.

The false dome was taken down for restoration at the start of this year. The project is being undertaken by Prevarti.

Director Pierra Bugeja told The Malta Independent that every step of the journey, from the company’s workshops in Mosta to the Cittadella in Gozo, presented a number of challenges, which were fortunately overcome.

The diameter of the painting is 8.4 metres, which means that the two halves are 4.2 metres in height. When planning the journey, the restorers had to consider the doors that they would be passing through, including the Gozo Channel ferry ramp.

Bugeja explained that the two parts of the painting were strapped to the sides of a truck on Wednesday evening. Transportation was provided by Attrans, while the trucks were kept inside the warehouse of another company – Hands On – for the night.

The paintings had to be strapped to the side of a specially modified trailer, since loading them on top of it would have meant that it would not have enough clearance on the Gozo ferry.

The paintings were covered in four layers of protective materials for the voyage. Fortunately, the weather held.

Bugeja said they decided to use the MV Gaudos, which has the highest access ramp and no vehicle platform. The trailer was accompanied by a police escort.

Bugeja said the trailer had to exit the vessel slowly since the unloading ramp at the Mgarr terminal is slightly steeper than the one at Cirkewwa.

The next challenge was driving up the steep Cittadella hill. Here, a handrail had to be temporary removed to provide the necessary clearance, and there was a hairy moment when a pothole caused the painting to come close to the ground. Luckily, a solution was found and the paintings made it up safely to the parking area outside the Cittadella.

Here, another specially modified lifter was used to transport the paintings into the square, where a crane was waiting to lift the art pieces over the 17-metre wide staircase. The paintings were carried into the Cathedral by hand and have temporarily been placed aganst the columns inside. Pierre Bugeja explained that the next challenge comes in a few days’ time, when the painting will be put back in its place. It will be inaugurated at a later stage, when ongoing works inside the Cathedral are completed.

Photos: Joseph Zammit