12/06/2026
Last week, we had the privilege of presenting the conserved and restored late Baroque Baptismal font cover belonging to the Parish Church of Xewkija in Gozo. Before undergoing conservation, the piece had sustained considerable deterioration. Most notably, this included detachments of the pictorial layer, splitting of the wooden panels throughout its structure, and scattered losses across its delicate decorative elements. During the cleaning process, our team found out that the baptismal font cover had undergone numerous interventions over the years as a result of a persistent insect infestation.
The presence of at least three layers of oil paint pointed to just as many previous treatments. Beneath the first layer, however, a remarkable detail emerged, the font cover was originally silver gilt, retaining evident traces of painted floral and vegetal motifs, with incised foliage adorning its base. The sculpted decorative elements on its sides and edges were also originally silver gilt and finished with shellac, giving the impression of a golden finish. This provided us with the necessary information for the font’s final presentation, where the original silver was preserved while addressing losses with minimal silver leaf integration.
Finally, we would like to thank archpriest of the Xewkija Parish Church Mons Daniel Xerri and for the entire parish community for entrusting us with this exciting project.
