Statuary

Born to a family of artists in Senglea, Gerolamo was the son of Salvatore, the sculptor of sepulchral statuettes and Maria Anna née Frendo, and paternal nephew of Carlo Darmanin, the statuarian.

The firm G. Darmanin e Figli, named after Giuseppe Darmanin, Girolamo’s grandfather, started in Senglea in 1708 and it continued to produce works for at least two centuries. The firm produced several works and were commissioned secular and public works. Among these one finds the flooring of the three corridors in the piano nobile of the Palace in Valletta, and marble works in lapidary and decorative works, of which many examples survive.

It was therefore natural that from his childhood Girolamo Darmanin started to familiarise himself with this type of work. His role had nothing to do with marble works but mainly namely with sculpture of wax statues. At the age of 17 Darmanin had already made four such statues, of which two were of grand master Jean de la Valette and Marc’Antonio Zondadari.

Darmanin lived most of his life in Senglea but he also had a lapidary workshop at Floriana. Fine examples of his lapidary and decorative works can be seen at the chapel of the Blessed Sacrament of St Paul’s Shipwrecked church, Valletta.

Darmanin flourished at a time when the Catholic church was striving to promote devotion of St Joseph. In Malta to mark this occasion, celebrations were held and various confraternities dedicated to St Joseph were set up. A number of statues representing the saint were commissioned. Darmanin already renowned for the statuarian art, was called upon to create magnificent stutues of St Joseph. Among them we find one venerated at Ħaż-Żebbuġ which was commissioned in 1896 and one was found in Senglea in 1879, which Darmanin had sculpted in paper-mâché for his hometown; and another one for Naxxar Parish church. It is likely that statues of this saint are found in the parishes of Ħamrun, Floriana, and Żabbar. For other works by Gerolamo see list below.

His statues bear the mark of the Darmanin family. They were all made in a fine style of papier-mâché composition and many of them still decorate the streets in festive seasons.

Darmanin married Gasparina née Demajo on 27 July 1856 and they had four children, Amelia, Giuseppina, Giuseppe, and Ester Maria.

Girolamo Darmain died at his home in Senglea, aged 45.

This biography is part of the collection created by Michael Schiavone over a 30-year period. Read more about Schiavone and his initiative here.