Updated 5.15 pm with Co-Cathedral Foundation's comments
Prominent Italian art historian and TV personality Vittorio Sgarbi has revived controversy over works impacting the oratory that hosts Caravaggio’s masterpiece The Beheading of St John the Baptist.
In a four-minute video shot from Merchants Street, outside the Valletta building, Sgarbi slammed the concrete “horror” that is being built at St John’s co-Cathedral.
“Let’s hope it’s an illusion, that it’s made of cardboard,” Sgarbi said, pointing to the extension. “But this will probably remain for centuries, as an anonymous marker of this historic moment when Caravaggio was humiliated.”
Sgarbi, 71, is a renowned writer and art expert who is a household name in Italy, by virtue of his TV career. He serves as President of the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Trento and Rovereto.and is the current mayor of Arpino, a town in Italy’s Lazio region.
Standing outside the historic building within Malta’s UNESCO-certified capital city, Sgarbi said he found it “incredible” to see a concrete extension rising atop Caravaggio’s oratory, “one of the world’s most sacred art sites.”
“Here, like in Italy, people pay a huge amount of attention when it comes to moving a painting but have no problem with raping, assasulting and disfiguring a building,” Sgarbi said, with evident dismay.
The extension to the St John’s Co-Cathedral site is intended to create a tapestry hall that will house 29 recently restored Flemish tapestries that are currently homeless. The tapestries were gifted to the Cathedral by Grandmaster Ramon Perellos in 1702.
But the construction has drawn criticism because it will mean a window shining light onto Caravaggio’s masterpiece will be permanently blocked.
A group of 28 Caravaggio experts from across the globe signed a joint letter earlier this year, calling for an investigation into the works.
In a reaction, the St John’s Co-Cathedral Foundation dismissed those concerns, saying the oratory that hosts Caravaggio’s painting had already been altered 300 years ago and that the window in question was kept permanently closed to protect the painting from damage.
Sgarbi said the works - which remain ongoing and have not yet been completed - had been flagged to him by his friend Keith Sciberras.
Sciberras, an academic who leads the University of Malta’s Caravaggio studies platform, was the first to raise the alarm about the impact of works on the oratory.
"It seems Malta forgot her history and glory," a dismayed Sgarbi mused. "It must have forgotten that nothing is more sacred than what is contained in here, and which must be preserved exactly the way it was when Caravaggio came here."
Project will make Co-Cathedral a 'cultural landmark in the Mediterranean'
In a statement, the St John's Co-Cathedral Foundation "expressed deep disappointment" with Sgarbi's comments.
They said the "new state-of-the-art museum project and national monument will make St John’s Co-Cathedral a cultural landmark in the Mediterranean and Valletta’s crown jewel".
It said all decisions and changes to the existing structure came after thorough research and investigations.
St John's Co-Cathedral Foundation added that the project's approval process engaged local authorities and involved UNESCO.
"The actual permitting approval process was subject to an on-site advisory mission and a further expert evaluation by the UNESCO World Heritage Centre’s Advisory Body ICOMOS in 2015 and 2018," they said.
Proposed amendments were taken on board, the foundation said.
They said the extended museum will include space for other historical items besides the restored tapestries and a Caravaggio centre, showcasing the painter's life in Malta.