Painter and restorer Raphael Bonnici Calì died yesterday aged 95.

As a boy Bonnici Calì was apprenticed to the well-known painter Giuseppe Calì.

In 1932 he was commissioned to carry out paintings for the Hamrun parish church, including the Apparition of Our Lady to St Gaetan and Saint Peter and Paul, and at around this time he also established a reputation as a restorer.

After the war he accepted commissions for vault paintings and restoration in various churches, among them in Tarxien and Vittoriosa. His best works include the Proclamation of the Dogma of Our Lady's Assumption (1950) and The Establishment of the Feasts of Maria Regina and of St Joseph the Worker.

He had also written extensively about local art and history.