Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1065920
NEWS maltatoday | SUNDAY • 23 DECEMBER 2018 'Refalo's Preti' wheeled out for MUZA, then stored back again MATTHEW VELLA A Preti masterpiece whose ac- quisition was put in doubt by Heritage Malta insiders was given a rare 'airing' in the new- ly-opened MUZA museum, be- fore being placed back in Her- itage Malta's reserve collection storage. Mattia Preti's 'Daniel Inter- preting Nebuchadnezzar's Dream' was acquired in 2017 on former Gozo minister Anton Refalo's direct request in a So- theby's auction for the princely sum of $401,211 (€371,233) – despite Heritage Malta, the national agency responsible for national heritage and works of art, expressing its opinion that it would not have considered purchasing it. Now the Labour MP – himself a Preti connoisseur and collec- tor – is chairman of Heritage Malta after not being given the Gozo ministry following re- election in 2017. So, the Preti masterpiece, originally ac- quired for the as-yet unopened Gozo Museum in Rabat, was exhibited during the opening of the MUZA museum of fine arts in Valletta. The artwork, whose acquisition price was as much as the entire value of acquisitions by Heritage Malta made since 2014, is now back in storage. It was previously exhibited for the first time at the Gozo ministry during Republic Day in 2017. Still, Refalo's critics in Gozo poured scorn over the fate of the artwork. "You have to consider that this was truly his vanity purchase… after all the funds were sourced from the Gozo ministry budget," one Labour delegate told MaltaTo- day. "Now it got its 'exhibition' but the Gozo museum is no- where near completion." The price tag for the Preti had already raised eyebrows at both Heritage Malta and the finance ministry, which had to evaluate the necessity and value of the artwork before the purchase. The painting, purchased from Sotheby's, was estimated to sell at between $200,000 and $300,000, ending up going to Heritage Malta for $396,500. Refalo was said to have lob- bied uncompromisingly for the painting when initial doubts were expressed on the acquisi- tion. The bid for the Preti master- piece, painted in the early part of the 1670s, was made over the phone and purchased through Sotheby's from a private collec- tion in London. It remains one of the largest single purchases by a Maltese ministry for any one paint- ing. Heritage Malta's own list of acquisitions since 2014 is of €388,000 alone, and that in- cludes the €75,000 acquisition for a Preti self-portrait last year. Refalo had admitted that Her- itage Malta "would not have considered its purchase" con- sidering its price and the num- ber of Pretis already in its col- lection. But the former minister had said that since this piece was earmarked for the Gozo Museum collection, which does not hold any Preti painting, "such painting would therefore certainly feature prominently in the Gozo museum storyline." The painting was eventually purchased for $320,000, which increased to $396,500 when taking into consideration taxes and premiums. Delivery and insurance cost an additional $4,711. 48 • 9 • 6 • 69 • 17 / 32 • 79 • 66 22-12-2018 Draw No: 755