I wish to show my appreciation to The Malta Independent on Sunday for an article written by Noel Grima that brought up the question of why the room that used to be the chapel in the Magisterial Palace was used to host an official dinner last week. This room needs to be given particular attention and its use must be carefully considered.

I must remind readers that the room should be known as the Paladini Chapel Room because it is known mainly for the very important fresco cycle by Filippo Paladini and because it was a chapel. (Hopefully it will one day be reinstated as a chapel, and thus the word ‘room’ would be dropped from its name, as has always been the intention of the Valletta Rehabilitation Project in the past, that was strongly backed by then President Dr Edward Fenech Adami.)

This room has one of the most important frescos in The Palace and one that has been subject to a very delicate conservation programme undertaken by the Courtauld Institute of Art. The fresco had almost disattached itself due to the World War II bombing and was kept together, with some losses, thanks to the foresight of an employee who put lottery tickets on the painting to hold it together. Though the fresco has been reattached in a very difficult, time-consuming project, it is still very fragile. Extensive lights and any form of heating should be avoided. In fact, originally, the proposal was to re-instate it as a chapel (by making copies, if the originals cannot be returned, of the altar which is in the Sacristy of St John’s Co-Cathedral and the titular painting which is at the Archbishop’s Curia in Valletta) and let it be viewed through a glass door. This does not mean that it cannot be used for special occasions but, I must repeat, heating and strong lighting have to be avoided.

Ray Bondin