NSTF actively supported the initial studies by experts from the Istituto Centrale per il Restuaro of Rome who recommended the restoration works on the magnificent silver and gilded bronze Reliquary containing the arm of St. John the Baptist. This was the work of Ciro Ferri (1634-1689), an Italian Baroque sculptor and painter who had worked on the extensive fresco decorations of the Quirinal palace and the frescoed ceilings and other internal decorations in the PittiPalace in Florence. This splendid reliquary of St. John the Baptist is found at the St. John’s Co-Cathedral Museum, Valletta.