An important discovery made during restoration works of the titular painting at Ta’ Pinu has come to light as the sanctuary celebrates the 140th anniversary of the manifestation of the Blessed Virgin today.

An etching that was copied by the artist to paint the miraculous image of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, known as the Madonna Ta’ Pinu, was unearthed by Sandro Debono, the external art advisor for its restoration project.

The 1574 engraving by Cornelis Cort replicates an original drawing by Federico Zuccari, said Debono. This, in turn, was replicated “almost slavishly” by the artist Bartolomeo Amadeo Perugino in his famous Our Lady of Ta’ Pinu painting in 1619.

Debono was entrusted with the research project by conservation company Atelier del Restauro, which had completed the restoration of the painting of historical and artistic importance in 2020.

He explained that etchings were used as reference by artists and the discovery of the original version that corresponds to the painting of the Assumption of the Virgin showed the artist was using “top-notch” prints.

“The finding also served as a good source to be able to compare what was changed in the painting,” Debono continued, adding that, in this case, it was “copied verbatim”.

The highly devotional icon was in a compromised state of preservation and its holistic conservation had been commissioned by the Gozo diocese and the Ta’ Pinu Sanctuary.

Dedicated book on restoration project

Now, three years after the restoration of the painting was completed, a dedicated book, documenting the process undertaken by Atelier del Restauro Ltd, is being published by the Ta’ Pinu National Sanctuary in August.

The publication also includes essays by conservators and directors of Atelier del Restauro Ltd, Valentina Lupo and Maria Grazia Zenzani, historian Mgr Joseph Bezzina and the Sanctuary's Rector Gerald Buhagiar. Its design and layout was in the hands of photographer Daniel Cilia.

Announcing the print discovery and offering more deatils about it, the publication will also feature other findings made during the restoration project as well as the scientific investigations carried out on this painting by Heritage Malta’s diagnostic scientific laboratories.

The restoration of the Madonna Ta’ Pinu painting had also unearthed the portrait of Pinu Gauci, the man who had commissioned it, in its lower right corner.

A photo of the X-ray that has been digitally enhanced to make the face of patron Pinu Gauci clearer.

The “ghostly figure” was revealed through X-rays that showed the original size and scale of Gauci’s portrait, as it had first featured in the altar painting.

It was then painted over and reduced in scale to complement the row of apostles featured in the lower part of the painting.

The celebration marks the call of Our Lady of Ta’ Pinu to Karmni Grima and Francis Portelli, who were instrumental in spreading her devotion.

They had beseeched the Madonna Ta’ Pinu to restore Portelli’s mother’s health and, in no time, her extraordinary recovery became known far and wide and has since attracted hordes of pilgrims to the shrine, seeking the Blessed Virgin’s help.