On the personal initiative of Archbishop Charles Scicluna, the icon of Our Lady of Damascus was placed on the altar at the papal Mass on April 3.

During Mass, Pope Francis blessed the icon. He felt so connected to it that he even touched the icon.

The Damaskiní, as it is popularly known, is one of the most important artefacts found in the Maltese islands.

History

At the Greek-Catholic church of Our Lady of Damascus, in Archbishop Street, Valletta, one has the opportunity to venerate the 12th-century icon of Our Lady of Damascus (Damaskiní). The icon is named after the capital city of Syria, Damascus, where it was greatly venerated.

It is said to have reached the Greek island of Rhodes in 1475 under miraculous circumstances. During the Ottoman siege of Rhodes, the Damaskiní was housed at the church of St Demetrius, inside the city walls. When Rhodes fell to the Turks, the Knights of St John had no other option but to leave the Greek island on January 1, 1523. For seven long years, the icon travelled with the Knights to Candia (Crete), Messina, Civitavecchia, Rome and Viterbo.

The icon arrived in Malta with the Knights of St John in 1530.

Accompanying them was a contingent of around 500 expatriate Greeks from Rhodes. The icon belonged to the distinguished Calamias family.

When Ioanna married Nikolaos Calamias, the son of Papàs Dikeos Calamias, part of her dowry consisted of the icon and its respective church. Nikolaos later became a priest and died before the Ottoman siege of Rhodes. It was Ioanna, his widow, who brought the icon to Malta on the Gran Carracca Sant’Anna.

The Knights of St John and the Maltese nurtured a great devotion towards the Damaskiní. During the Great Siege of 1565, Grand Master Jean Parisot de la Valette prayed regularly to Our Lady of Damascus. When the Knights, with the heroic resistance of the Maltese population, managed to ward off the Ottoman threat, Grand Master la Valette called at the church of Our Lady of Damascus to pray before the icon. He expressed his gratitude by donating his hat and his sword to the church as a votive offering.

When the new city of Valletta was being built, Ioannes Calamias, the son of Ioanna, commissioned the building of a church to house the icon; it was ready by 1580. In 1587, the icon of Our Lady of Damascus was brought over to Valletta from Vittoriosa in great pomp and ceremony on one of the galleys of the Order of St John.  

On March 24, 1942, the church of Our Lady of Damascus was destroyed by enemy action. Around 30 icons were lost forever. Fortunately, the Damaskiní had been taken to the Freres in Gżira for safekeeping and, therefore, it suffered no damage.

Because of its old age and chequered history, the icon was in a very poor state of preservation. It had already undergone urgent restoration at the hands of the two brothers, Vincenzo and Carmelo Bonello, in 1930.

On October 25, 1931, the icon was solemnly crowned by the Vatican Chapter on the occasion of the 15th centenary of the Council of Ephesus which proclaimed the Blessed Virgin as the Theotokos, that is ‘the Birth-giver of Christ God’. That same year coincided with the fourth centenary of the arrival of the icon of the Damaskiní to Malta.

Between 1963 and 1966, the icon was meticulously cleaned and restored in the Istituto Centrale del Restauro of Rome at the expense of the Italian government. The work of the restorers, who removed layers of grime and successive overpaintings accumulated during the centuries brought the image back to its origins. The icon was given a prominent place in the Thirteenth Council of Europe Exhibition held in Malta from April 2 to July 1, 1970.

Iconography

The icon of Our Lady of Damascus is of the type known as ‘Eleousa’ (the Merciful). An icon of the Eleousa type is recognised by the very close and tender union of the Theotokos (Mother of God) and her Divine Infant. The Madonna wears the mantle of a Byzantine empress. The three stars, one on each shoulder and one on the forehead, symbolise her virginity before, during and after the birth of the child Jesus and of her consecration as unique cooperator in the mystery of the Divine Incarnation.

The baby’s robe is tied by a red sash, a colour often used to signify divinity. The face of the Madonna dominates the whole composition. The eyes, very large and with a fixed expression, seem to gaze beyond and into the eyes of the praying person. The thin nose, which is delicately curved, and the high broad forehead stress the predominance of the contemplative life.   

The restoration project

Atelier del Restauro Ltd was commissioned in 2018 by Archimandrite Mgr George Mifsud, parish priest emeritus, and Papàs Martin Zammit, parish priest of the Greek-Catholic church, to carry out the project which was led by conservators Maria Grazia Zenzani and Valentina Lupo, along a highly qualified team of restorers. The team has already worked on major venerable icons of faith:  the painting of Our Lady of Ta’ Pinu in Gozo, the wall-painted Icon of Our Lady of Mellieħa and Christ the Redeemer at Senglea.

The icon is not only an aesthetic object but a channel of divine grace

Because of the importance of the icon, the conservators collaborated through a consultation by the world-renowned Opificio delle Pietre Dure (OPD) in Florence, with a team headed by Cecilia Frosinini (director of Wall Painting and Easel Painting Conservation Department, OPD). The project was closely monitored by the archdiocese’s Kummissjoni Patrimonju Kulturali Kattoliku (KPKK).

This much-needed intervention has gone a long way in conserving and restoring the icon and was completed in 2021.

Several scientific analyses were carried out on the paint and gilded layers along infrared reflectography, which uncovered a number of ‘pentimenti’ (a change made by the artist during the process of painting) and a faint underdrawing. Carbon dating is currently under way to determine a more precise time period for the icon.

The icon’s wooden support was completely removed in 1932 because of a severe insect infestation and the paint layer was transferred onto a canvas support. This operation was customary of the period. Many important panel paintings in Italy have, unfortunately, undergone similar treatments during the early 20th century since alternative treatments were not available at the time.

During the 1963 intervention, in order to compensate for the lost wooden support, the icon was transferred on a panel made of cadorite.

The main aim of the restoration project was to remove the heavily- warped cadorite panel at the back. The movements of the panel were causing several stresses on the preparatory, paint and gilded layers. Furthermore, the icon’s paint and gilded layers needed a thorough consolidation intervention. The areas most affected by the detachments of the preparatory and paint layers were the faces of the Madonna and Child. 

Re-establishing a stable surface through consolidation allowed for the cleaning of the painting. A gradual and controlled thinning of the thick layer of varnish and overpainting present on painting’s surface was carried out. These significantly altered the legibility of the painting. The expert cleaning intervention revealed some details of the painting that were previously not visible. These included parts of the halo of the Virgin and fragments of decorations on the Child’s halo. Other uncovered details included fragments of the Child’s left foot as well as highlights on the Virgin’s mantle.

The detachment of the painting from the deteriorated cadorite support followed and the lining canvas previously added to the painting was removed. This was an indispensable part of the conservation treatment as the lining canvas present was causing detachments and deformations of the painting surface.

The painting was subjected to cycles of controlled humidity in order to remove the deformations present on the painting surface. The painting was then relined.

The new support was made using an Aerolam panel with characteristics of stability and resistance to atmospheric agents. This was covered with thin wooden panels, attached to the edges of the panel using epoxy resin.

Giving consideration that the icon is an artefact of devotion and also because of its remarkable value, it was decided to recover the potential unity of the work. For this reason, it was appropriate to reduce the aesthetic interference of the vast loss along the borders of the icon by reconstructing the missing parts. The process was of a complex nature and involved several studies of other icons. The whole pictorial intervention was carried out using the selezione cromatica retouching technique in order to differentiate the original areas from those that were integrated.

Conclusion

It can be said of icons in general that they are witness to the heavenly glory which is manifested in the figures represented on the gold background. These icons are, for the faithful, a means of support and a way of approaching the divine splendour. The icon, thus, is not only an aesthetic object but a “channel of divine grace”.

The icon of Our Lady of Damascus may be seen and venerated at the Greek-Catholic church in 132, Archbishop Street, Valletta. The project was partly sponsored by APS Bank. A presentation about the restoration and findings will take place in due course.

This article was compiled by Valentina Lupo and Maria Grazia Zenzani, conservators and directors of Atelier del Restauro Ltd, Archimandrite Mgr George Mifsud, parish priest emeritus (Greek-Catholic Church, Valletta), and Papàs Martin Zammit, parish priest of the Greek-Catholic church in Valletta.