Another two tapestries are being sent to Belgium on the return flight.

The restored tapestries are 'The Triumph of the Catholic Church' and 'The Portrait of Grand Master Perellos', while the two that are being sent to Belgium are 'The Institution of Corpus Christi' and 'The Triumph of Charity'.

The Belgian Defence Ministry is providing the transportation of these tapestries after the intervention of the Belgian Ambassador to Malta, Thomas Baekelandt, who has also found a sponsorship for one of the tapestries by the King Baudouin Foundation in Brussels.

The tapestries are being restored by the St John's Co-Cathedral Foundation as part of its conservation strategy. The restoration of all the tapestries will take at least eight years to complete and will cost in the region of one million euros.

The tapestries had been commissioned by Aragonese Grand Master Ramon Perellos y Roccaful in the late 17th century. They were woven at the Flemish atelier of Judecos de Vos, famous for being the court weaver of Louis XIV of France. They arrived in Malta in 1701.

This set is the largest and one of the few complete ones in the world.