Situated in the southeast of Malta, the village of Qrendi
has seven churches and chapels, and several statues adorning the streets and
piazzas. Five of these statues were restored by the Restoration Directorate
over the course of 2019-2021, namely those dedicated to:
Our Lady of Mercy (Madonna tal-Hniena),
St. Rocco (Santu Rokku),
St. Mary (Santa Marija),
St Anne (Sant’Anna) and
St. Matthew (San Mattew).
Although the statues and their pedestals required minimal
conservation interventions, they were nonetheless subject to various degrees of
biological growth on their horizontal surfaces (especially the top-most parts
where deposits collected over time), as well as chromatic alterations, stone
deterioration and vegetation growth.The statues of St. Anna and Our Lady of Mercy were
covered with polychrome paint layers which were peeling off, revealing, in the case
of the statue of St. Anne, cement rendering underneath as well as powdering of
the stone. The statue of St. Rocco had localized hacking and mechanical damage while
that of San Matthew, which was the only one void of any rendering, also displayed
alveolar weathering as well as pitting and was missing part of the angel’s wing.
Many of the statues also had metal inserts which caused staining as well as
cracking of the stone
The interventions carried out by the Restoration
Directorate involved the manual removal of all superfluous accretions and
inserts. This was followed by manual dry brushing to remove unsound render as
well as any powdering on the surface of the stone. Incompatible cement repairs
and renders were sensitively removed using chisels and hammers without damaging
the underlying stone. Plastic repair techniques based on hydraulic lime or else
using new stone and piecing these in with carbon fibre dowels were employed to
replace missing elements. All open joints were pointed using a hydraulic lime-based
mortar and a ‘velatura’ was applied to all exposed stonework. A lime-based
paint was applied to rendered areas and all existing finishes were retained.