An 18th-century arch cancelleria that was used to resolve civil disputes during the inquisition in Malta is in the process of being rebuilt, after the original plans for the room were found by a Maltese researcher in the Vatican archives.

The project, which is being run completely in-house by Heritage Malta, has seen the restoration of the decorative frescoes on the walls, as well as the inclusion of newly-built panelled cabinets in the original style and workmanship of the 1700s, bringing to life new details on an interesting bit of history within the inquisition.

“When we think of the Roman inquisition, we perhaps associate more with the spiritual tribunals, which is where people who acted against the doctrine of the Church were ‘tried’,” Kenneth Cassar, senior curator at the Inquisitor’s Palace in Vittoriosa, said.

“However, the cancelleria had a separate purpose, and thus a physically separate building for the tribunal as well as the storage of archives was kept.”

The cancelleria, Cassar explains, served a similar purpose as a civil tribunal. Any person who was employed by the inquisition, including servants, fell under the responsibility of the Inquisitor and thus had their offences heard in a separate tribunal.

Plans for the cancelleria were presented by inquisitor Giacomo Filiberto Ferrero di Messerano in 1700 and were found with correspondence that suggest that Messerano had underestimated the funds necessary for his vision for the palace, sending evidence of the work the inquisition was doing in Malta to Rome to justify the expense.

The plans included detailed drawings of furnishings. 

Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

At the time, the church was in the process of building St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, and part of the inquisitor’s duties included making sure that any inheritance that was left to the church made its way back to Rome to fund the project.

When there were disputes regarding the inheritance, these were also heard at the cancelleria.

Not only telling the story of the inquisition but also the history of the archives

Putting the project together required extensive work as well as taking context clues from the decorations in the room as well as other parts of the palace.

“We combined all the paperwork with the physical evidence in the buildings and when you look at it all together, it begins to make sense,” Cassar says.

Through this, Heritage Malta was able not only to restore wall decorations to their original source, but build the surrounding furniture with a good idea of what the decoration might look like, thanks to panel work found recycled into doors in other parts of the palace that made up the original cancelleria furniture.

Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

“We know the wall decoration had a lot of retouching. For sure it was retouched in the 1920s and 1960s. So we roped in the painting conservators to clean it up and reinstate what was left of the original.”

Senior conservator Anthony Spagnol, assisted by Brian Caruana, has so far managed to restore the original wall decoration of the cancelleria’s entryway, as well as the large false windows, and are in the process of uncovering further details in other sections of the room.

“We had to make slight changes when it comes to the colour of the cancelleria, but in terms of decoration since we are informed by pieces made from the same period in the same building, I think we’re pretty close.”

The process of building the furniture was like unlearning 300 years of technological progress, said Martin Vella, a carpenter who worked on the project.

Apart from sourcing wood and other materials that come as close to the original structures as possible, rebuilding the cancelleria also meant manufacturing it through workmanship that reflected the sensibilities of the trade at the time.

Two of the large cabinets, which were used to archive tribunal documents, have been installed in the cancelleria, with the remaining pieces currently under construction. The attraction is set to be completed by the end of next year.

“The Inquisitor’s Palace in Malta as well as all the inquisitorial archives were one of the very few to survive intact and we are the only palace in Europe that is still open to the public as a seat of power for the inquisition,” Cassar says.

“This project falls under our vision for the palace, whereby we want to bring the role of the inquisition to the forefront of the attraction. The idea is to have the completed cancelleria incorporated with research from the inquisition archives that will allow people to open its doors and learn about the trials that were held here.

“This way we are not only telling the story of the inquisition but also the history of the archives and the stories and everyday lives of people who found themselves under the scrutiny of the inquisitor.”