Restoration process of Caravaggio's Beaheading catalogued

The Organising Committee for the Celebrations of the Return of Caravaggio's "The Beheading of the Baptist" is marking this memorable event with the issue of a special publication in English which contains full-colour illustrations demonstrating different stages in the restoration process undertaken in Florence by the Opificio delle Pietre Dure.

The publication contains also essays by Dott Marco Ciatti, Director of Paintings Restoration at the Opificio, and Sig.a Paola Bracco, Head Restorer of Paintings. The essays give a detailed report of the restoration process, including the early stages of analysis of the condition of the "Beheading", its overseas transportation, the further tests undertaken in Florence with the use of sophisticated diagnostic technology, as well as the later stages of intervention, and the painting's departure from the Opificio.

Other contributions are by architect Claude Borg who was responsible for the installation of a demountable scaffolding system behind Caravaggio's masterpiece, and by Dr Catherine Puglisi, a Caravaggio scholar from Rutgers University, New Jersey, who discusses in her write-up the paintings produced by the artist during his fourteen-month stay in Malta between 1607 and 1608.

The publication has high production values and is intended for the numerous art lovers who have a keen interest in the recent restoration of the world-famous masterpiece. It is available from the bookshop of the Museum of St John's, from the National Museum of Fine Arts in South Street, Valletta, and from leading book stores.