Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/807528
3 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 5 APRIL 2017 News ministry second most expensive ever to come in below our budget as we bought the painting for €320,000," Refalo insisted. But he conceded that, with trans- port and insurance added on, the total cost to bring the 153cm by 196cm oil on canvas painting to Malta rose to €371,233. The bid for the Preti master- piece, painted in early part of the 1670s, was made over the phone and was purchased through So- theby's New York. The purchase is one of the larg- est single purchases by a Mal- tese ministry for any one paint- ing. Heritage Malta's own list of acquisitions since 2014, pro- vided by the authority itself, is of €388,000 alone, and that includes the €75,000 acquisition for a Preti self-portrait last year. Refalo is himself a collector, and is said to have lobbied uncompro- misingly for the painting when initial doubts were expressed on the acquisition. Sotheby's described the Preti painting acquired by Refalo's ministry as a broadly painted work which has been restored and should be hung in its current state. The canvas has a recent lin- ing applied with glue. Under ultra- violet light, Sotheby's say that one can see retouching in the darker colors of the ghostly figure in the centre. The remaining faces are in good condition, showing only a few spots of retouching. Mattia Preti's 'Daniel Interpreting Nebuchadnezzar's Dream' was bought for a staggering €371,233, outstripping Heritage Malta's own acquisition spend