Din l-Art Helwa has just completed the restoration of the St John Evangelist altar and carved niche at the Church of Our Lady of Victories in time for the annual feast that celebrates the nativity of the Blessed Virgin on 8 September.  The original 18c colours, gilding and exquisite decorative scheme have been revealed from beneath layers of heavy paint requiring months of painstaking treatment by a conservation team from Giuseppe Mantella Restauri.  The project was made possible through the support of The Alfred Mizzi Foundation.

The altar-piece depicts the evangelist whose confraternity was established in Malta in 1735. St John is depicted on the island of Patmos writing the Book of Revelations. In the top left-hand corner, is the figure of the Woman of the Apocalypse referred to in Revelations. The eagle, symbol of St John the Evangelist, crowns the stone altar which was embellished by the confraternity in 1736.  Beautiful cartouche motifs with a monogram were discovered within the stone frame and their significance is still to be studied.

This is the fourth altar to be restored at Victory Church since Din l-Art Helwa were awarded the church in guardianship by the government of Malta on Sept 8 2011.  Din l-Art Helwa hopes to complete the fifth and last altar, that dedicated to St Liborius, by November 2016.