Ta’ Pinu sanctuary’s 400-year-old altar painting of The Assumption of Our Lady is undergoing a conservation and restoration project.

The altarpiece, known as Il-Madonna ta’ Pinu, was commissioned by Pino Gauci and painted by Amadeo Bartolomeo Perugino in 1619, as inscribed on the painting’s bottom right corner.

The restoration project is being carried out by the Maltese company Atelier del Restauro Ltd, led by conservators Valentina Lupo, Maria Grazia Zenzani and Simon Dimech.

The company has been following the painting’s state of conservation since 2017 and subsequently removed it from the sanctuary in November 2018, conducted a detailed analysis on its state of conservation and compiled a report. Work on the restoration commenced recently.

Meanwhile, a replica of the painting is replacing the original one until it being restored.

The painting was executed by Godwin Cutajar of Victoria in 1996, on the request by then sanctuary rector Mgr Benedict Camilleri.