Two painting found in the apse of the beautiful Saint Gregory church in Sliema have been inaugurated after they were fully restored to their former glory.

The restoration works were many, but they largely included the cleaning of the paintings together with the reduction of salt from the layers of stone.

Spaces between various stone joints were filled and any other necessary modes of protection were installed to keep the painting from deteriorating any further in the future.

The paintings are the work of the Italian artist Eliodoro Coccoli who painted these works of arts during the 1940’s.

One of the paintings shows Christ together with two angels. The painting has a background of oil gilding and was directly applied onto the stone support.

On the other hand, the other painting is a canvas that was attached to the wall depicting the life of Saint Gregory.

Eliodoro Coccoli works are only found in Malta and Switzerland outside of his native Italy, making these two paintings even more special due to their historical value.