A Late 19th Century Painting in the Old Church of St Sebastian in Ħal Qormi

The painting of Our Lady of the Rosary, on the lateral altar of the Old Church of St Sebastian in Ħal Qormi, has been restored with the support of the BOV Foundation. The altarpiece, typical of late nineteenth‑century sacred art, depicts the Virgin Mary holding the Child Jesus as she presents the Rosary to St Dominic, with a dog beside him carrying a flaming torch in its mouth. The artwork was donated to the church by the Gulia-Schembri family, whose coat of arms is depicted on the left-hand side of the painting.

Despite a number of interventions carried out in the past, including one undertaken in the early 1970s during which the canvas was permanently stuck to the hardboard, the altarpiece was in a poor state of conservation. The canvas suffered from tears, especially towards the top of the painting, and the paint layer had begun to detach and flake.

The conservation and restoration work was carried out by PrevArti. Pierre Bugeja, founder and senior conservator at PrevArti, outlined the interventions undertaken on the altarpiece. He explained that the works included the cleaning of the canvas, the removal of yellowed varnish and previous retouching and over-painting. This intervention proved challenging for the conservators, as much of the paint added during previous interventions had been applied directly onto the canvas without any preparatory stucco being applied. Work was also carried out to consolidate the canvas in areas where it had detached from the hardboard.

Ernest Agius, on behalf of the BOV Foundation, remarked that the Bank is proud to support communities through projects of this nature. He stated, “It is an honour for BOV to stand alongside various communities and entities in the conservation and restoration of artistic works. Works such as this are valuable not only from an artistic perspective but also from a historical and social one. This forms part of our corporate social responsibility and represents a way for us to give back to society.”

While the artist who painted this altarpiece remains unknown, popular tradition suggests it is most likely of Neapolitan origin. During the cleaning process carried out as part of the present restoration, snippets of the artist’s signature were uncovered, namely the first letter and the final two letters. Despite this discovery, the artist remains unidentified, and research is ongoing. The altarpiece of Our Lady of the Rosary was donated to the Church of St Sebastian at a time when Ħal Qormi had begun to develop into an urban centre.