'Our Lady of Victory'
Edited: Petra Caruana Dingli
Publisher: Din L-Art Helwa / 2023
Pages: 256
In the 1970s the church of Our Lady of Victory in Valletta was run for a long time by a rather diminutive priest, Canon Salvino Cauchi.
The church itself was rather a dim thing with the walls, and especially the vault, covered with mould and dark grey stains and an air of neglect all around.
Then times changed and a restoration project was initiated in the course of which some interesting discoveries were made. In particular a rather dismissive attitude by the priest came to light.
In a letter dated 18 June 1979, addressed to Archpriest Anton Zammit, Can Cauchi wrote: "If immediate attention is beyond consideration, a painful decision should be taken and the vault painted over."
Fortunately for Malta this "painful decision" was not taken and the precious vault painting by Alessio Erardi about the life of the Virgin was saved for posterity. It was to be the joint and courageous action of the committee members of Din L-Art Helwa, the mesmerising photography by Daniel Cilia, the research by Stephen Rickerby and Lisa Shekede from the Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London that saved the masterpiece.
As a result visitors can today enjoy two masterpieces created almost contemporaneously - that of St John's and that of Our Lady of Victory, triumphs of Baroque Art. At the same time that he was engaged in painting the vault, using the novel technique experimented by Mattia Preti at St John's, Erardi was also engaged in painting the vault of the nunnery church of St Ursula and the Oratory of the Dominican Convent.
But subsequent attempts at restoration at Our Lady of Victory, built by Grand Master de Valette to celebrate the 1565 victory, caused widespread damage and then there was general neglect.
So was saved the vault painting, commissioned and paid for by Grand Master Perellos in 1716. Had it not been for this courageous restoration of a painting, which was once even called "an unhappy monstrosity", it would not have been saved.