Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1544415
8 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 15 APRIL 2026 CULTURE Conservation of Mattia Preti paintings in Saint Peter ad Vincula at the Jesuits' Church, A new conservation project has been launched for the three sev- enteenth-century paintings by Mattia Preti (1613–1699) in the Chapel of Saint Peter ad Vincula at the Jesuits' Church in Valletta, belonging to the Confraternity of Our Lady of Charity of the same city. The initiative forms part of the wider conservation programme currently underway at the Jesu- its' Church complex. The pro- ject is generously funded by AX Group, coordinated by Rev. Dr Nicholas Joseph Doublet and Professor Keith Sciberras, and the conservation works will be carried out by the profession- al conservators of the St John's Co-Cathedral Foundation. Historical Context The chapel dedicated to Saint Peter ad Vincula was granted to the married couple Pietro Ros- selli (1606/7-1676), a goldsmith and accomplished merchant, and Aloisia Massa (1613-1682) by a deed drawn up by Notary Andrea Vella on 25 April 1662. The chapel itself was construct- ed through the initiative of the said Pietro Rosselli. Both found- ers were buried in the Chapel as requested in their will. Following the death of her hus- band, Aloisia Massa bequeathed all the property left to her by her husband to the Confrater- nity of Charity, established at the Church of Saint Paul's Ship- wreck in Valletta, and also set up a marriage legacy to be adminis- tered by this Confraternity in fa- vour of the female descendants of the couple's extended family. The Paintings of Mattia Preti at the Jesuits' The chapel houses three im- portant canvases by the re- nowned Baroque painter Mattia Preti, executed around the time of the chapel's establishment in the early 1660s: - The Liberation of Saint Peter from Prison, represented in the altarpiece. - Saints Peter and Paul Led to Martyrdom, lunette (right). - The Martyrdom of Saint Pe- ter, lunette (left). Together, these paintings cre- ate a coherent iconographic cycle centred on the life and martyrdom of the Prince of the Apostles, reflecting themes of apostolic witness and Christian sacrifice characteristic of the spiritual culture of the Catholic Reformation. Artistic and Cultural Signifi- cance The works form part of the im- portant Pretian corpus in Malta, produced shortly after the art- ist's arrival on the island. They represent an early stage in Preti's Maltese career and demonstrate the dramatic Baroque style that would later culminate in his cel- ebrated decorative programme at St John's Co-Cathedral. They also evidence the prestige that Pietro Roselli enjoyed in his life- time, allowing him to be the first Maltese patron of Preti beyond the Order of Saint John. The marble altar bears the combined coats-of-arms of the Rosselli and Massa families, in- corporating the figure of the heron, while the altar table— shaped in the form of an urn— The project, coordinated by Rev. Nicholas Joseph out by the professional conservators of the St John's