The King Baudouin Foundation of Belgium has offered to sponsor the restoration of one of the tapestries conserved in the Co-Cathedral in support of the commitment made by the St John’s Co-Cathedral Foundation to restore the entire collection of tapestries.

Cynthia de Giorgio, curator of St John’s said the Belgians are extremely conscious of their cultural heritage. They are therefore also proud of the tapestries in the Co-Cathedral and feel duty bound to assist in their restoration.

She said that the sponsorship was made possible thanks to the keen interest of the Belgian Ambassador, Thomas Baeklandt who approached the King Baudouin Foundation and presented a request for aid to restore the tapestries. The Belgian Ambassador had already provided the transport of the first two tapestries by means of a Belgian military airplane. She said the Foundation has now made a commitment to cover the expenses involved in the restoration of one of the tapestries.

The collection, consisting of 29 pieces, is the largest one of its kind in the world.

The Aragonese Grand Master Ramon Perellos y Roccaful ordered the set of tapestries on his accession in 1697. The tapestries were woven between 1697 and 1700 at the atelier of Judocos de Vos, the Court Weaver of Louis XIV of France on the designs of various artists among whom the well-known Peter Paul Rubens.

The tapestries, which were designed to be suspended along the main nave of the church, were woven with silk and woollen yarns. The collection consists of 14 big tapestries, approximately 6.6m by 6m and 14 smaller ones representing the Apostles. Another tapestry portrays Grand Master Perellos.

The 14 bigger tapestries are divided into two sets; seven of them represent the fundamental divine truths of the Catholic faith and the other seven portray episodes from Christ’s life such as the birth of Jesus, the Adoration of the Magi, the Last Supper and the Resurrection.

The tapestries have been restored at least two times. In 1997, two of them were again restored in preparation for an exhibition that was taking place at the time. In 2001, the St John’s Co-Cathedral Foundation was set up with the aim of conserving the numerous treasures in the Co-Cathedral, including the tapestries.

It was during this time that an entrance fee to visit the Co-Cathedral was introduced so that the income would be used for the conservation and restoration of these works of art.

The St John’s Co-Cathedral Foundation has now prepared a programme for the restoration and conservation of the 27 tapestries, spread over eight years. The tapestries will be restored at the De Wit Laboratories in Belgium at an estimated cost of approximately e1,000,000 or Lm429,300.

The first two tapestries left Malta last November. Their restoration is expected to take nearly two years.