Replacement plaques arrive at Italian Chapel

October 24, 2014 at 1:14 pm

John Muir and Phillip Paris with the replacement plaques at the Italian Chapel this afternoon. — John Muir and Philip Paris with the replacement plaques at the Italian Chapel this afternoon.

Three new hand-crafted plaques to replace the religious carvings stolen from the Italian Chapel in August were delivered today.

The author of Orkney’s Italian Chapel: The True Story of an Icon, Philip Paris, was in Italy recently and collected the replacement artwork from chapel creator Domenico Chiocchetti’s daughter, Letizia.

The original set of 12 carvings, depicting Christ’s journey to the cross, was created in Moena, in Italy, and was a personal gift to the chapel from Domenico Chiocchetti.

After the theft of three of the intricately carved plaques — which sparked a public outcry both in Orkney and beyond — John Muir, Italian Chapel Preservation Committee secretary, confirmed that replica plaques would be crafted by the same company in Moena which created the originals.

Mr Muir sent one of the original plaques to Italy for the craftsman to match the shape, size and type of woods used in creating the originals.