The main transept behind the altar is a treasure throve of art in Gozo. The apse, painted by Conti, represents the entry of St George into the joy of heaven after his earthly sufferings, and his coronation in glory.

Below the vault is the famous canvas of the Triumph of St George by the renowned Calabrese painter Mattia Preti, commissioned in 1678 by the Governor of Gozo Fra Francesco de Cordova. It is flanked by two paintings, one of St Peter and the other of St Paul, made by Italian artist Attilio Palombi in 1906. A graceful eighteenth-century oil painting of Our Lady by Pierre Guillemin stands on the altar just beneath the main altarpiece.

Mattia Preti has two paintings in St George’s Basilica and they are among the very few examples by the master that Gozo can boast of. Preti was already an acknowledged painter when he was invited by Grand Master Raphael Cotoner to come to Malta and decorate with affresco the huge vault of the conventual church that the Knights of St John had constructed in their new city of Valletta. He spent thirty-eight years working in Malta until he died in 1699. Preti was approaching the end of his active life when he painted this centerpiece which represents St George, robed as a knight similar to that of the Military Order of Malta, glorious over the vanquished dragon.

Turning to your right, you will see a splendid painting depicting the trial of St George before the tribunal of the Roman Emperor Diocletian. It is one of two large canvases – a donation by parish priest Giacomo Galea – that complement the central one, both of them acknowledged masterpieces by Francesco Vincenzo Zahra, a Maltese eighteenth-century painter of the Preti school. On the other side, the painting depicts the final ordeal in the martyrdom of St George: his beheading. It is worthwhile to pay attention to detail, including the (Alsatian) dog representing perhaps the faithfulness of true friendship.

Around you are the old wooden choir stalls where the Collegiate Chapter meets regularly for the recitation of the Divine Office. The Chapter is a group of priests, appointed by the Bishop of Gozo, to serve as special celebrants of the liturgy in this basilica. There are several such Chapters in Malta and Gozo but this is the only one that has the bishop of the island as its head and first dignitary. You may see his stall adorned with red velvet and topped by his Episcopal coat of arms. Facing it, adorned in green velvet, is the stall of the Archpriest, the second dignitary in the Chapter, and topped by the Chapter’s coat of arms.

By special concession of the Lateran Basilica in Rome, the coat of arms of the Collegiate Chapter of St George’s Basilica is the same as that of the cathedral of the Bishop of Rome: the Pope. This church, in fact, is affiliated with the cathedral of Rome. This is why the principal coat of arms of the Lateran Basilica appears also on top of the bronze portals of this basilica, flanked by that of the reigning pope and of the Diocesan Bishop.