Following an extensive restoration project spanning over four years with a price tag of around €400,000, the magnificent vaulted ceiling of the Our Lady of Victories Church in Valletta has been unveiled again after 20 years hidden away behind wooden scaffolding.

The restoration project was officially unveiled today by Din l-Art Helwa, the NGO that took over the administration of the church back in 2011.

The church was built on the site where a religious ceremony was held to inaugurate the laying of the foundation stone of the new city Valletta on 28 March 1566. Grandmaster Jean Parisot de Valette personally funded for the building of the church.

He was buried there in 1568 but his remains were later moved to St. John's Co-Cathedral. It became the parish church of the Order of St John in 1617 and was dedicated to St Anthony. The roof of the church was damaged in 1942, in the same air raid that destroyed the Royal Opera House.

Din l-Art Helwa started a restoration project in 2000 and the exterior of the building was completed by 2002.

A few years earlier wooden scaffolding was erected beneath the vaulted ceilings, painted by Alessio Erardi in 1716 on commission by Grand Master Ramon Perellos y Roccaful. The different paintings depict the life cycle of the Virgin Mary. Studies were carried out and restoration work started but soon came to a halt, mainly because of the enormous cost of the project.

Din l-Art Helwa, with the support of the Rehabilitation Projects Office and funding from the HSBC Foundation, embarked on a new restoration process in 2011.

It was explained today how conservators from the Courtauld Institute of Art removed layers of dust, grime and paint that had covered the paintings for years. Much of the gold lead adorning the masterpieces had completely disappeared over the years. Missing pieces were not repainted, but rather covered in a material that blends into the surrounding parts. DLH President Maria Grazia Cassar said the last part of the project includes the installation of art-friendly lighting and the restoration of the side altars. This will require the church to close temporarily in November but it should be open again by Christmas.

Simone Mizzi, Vice President of Din l-Art Helwa, said the NGO was very happy that the works were finished before the September deadline, when Malta celebrates the 450th anniversary of the Great Siege of 1565. She hoped that the last remaining works would be completed before Valletta takes on the title of European Capital of Culture in 2018.

Mireille Fsadni, the Chief Architect at the Rehabilitation Projects Office, said extensive studies needed to be carried out before the actual restoration could take place. She praised DLH for choosing a project and seeing it through to the end.

HSBC Malta CEO Mark Watkinson said the HSBC Foundation was very proud to have sponsored the project, which was carried out with great passion by Din l-Art Helwa. The church has been restored to very high standards, he said.

On his part, Monsignor Victor Zammit McKeon, the rector of the Church, said the plan was to start holding a daily mass at the church, including on Sundays. “I believe that a church like this without liturgy would lose its beauty,” he said. He also spoke of how the rectory has been turned into a sort of museum, where recently restored items such as crucifixes and holy vestments are exhibited. On behalf of Archbishop Charles Scicluna he thanked all benefactors.

Mrs Mizzi also announced intentions to reintroduce the feast of the blessing of the animals at the church, which was held until 1947. The tradition started soon after the church was dedicated to St Anthony. Documents show that people would come to the church with their animals, for which they would be given blessed oatmeal.