Painter, Engraver and Restorer.
Born in Valletta, Oscar was the son of Carmelo Testa and Assunta née Zammit. He received his artistic training at the Malta Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, under Ignazio Cefai*.
In 1928 he obtained a diploma from the British and Dominion School of Drawing of London. He was also awarded a scholarship to study religious art and restoration at the Accademia di Belle Arti of Rome. Testa took up permanent residence in Rome where he set up his studio as a restorer and painter, producing religious subjects, portraits and still life, as well as an art researcher and an engraver.
In Rome he met and married Mercedes l’Eltore, a second cousin of Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli, the future Pope Pius XII, on 5 January 1937.
He worked regularly for the Vatican and at Palazzo Borghese in his capacity as painter and restorer. He taught drawing and history or art at the Collegio San Gregorio Magno of Rome.
He executed the official portraits of Pope Pius XII and Paul VI (1963-1978) and that of Grandmaster Ludovico Chigi Albani della Rovere.
Cardinal Celso Costantini appointed Testa member of Congregatio de Propaganda Fide, in recognition for the restoration work he had carried out in the Pontifical Palace of the said congregation.
Apart from Rome, Oscar Testa worked in other parts of Italy, including Florence, Cesena and Orvieto.
After he had decorated the Parish Church of Gerano and the nearby Church of San Lorenzo, the City Council named a street in the city of Gerano: ‘Via Oscar Testa Insigne artista maltese’.
In Malta there are also some of his works, such as Our Lady of the Wayside (Il-Madonna tat-Triq), a reproduction of a similar painting in Rome. The Maltese copy is found at the Jesuits Loyola House of Naxxar. Another work is Santa Rosalia, patron saint of Palermo. This painting is housed at the Holy Souls church St Nicholas of Bari, Valletta. At Vittoriosa there is a painting of Our Lady and St Anne at St Anne’s Chapel at Fort St Angelo.
He restored several works of art. In 1957 he produced the designs for the pedestal and plinth of the processional statue of St Dominic in Valletta, in 1959 he restored the Palombi’s vault paintings in the Collegiate Church of St Paul’s Shipwreck and the apse in the Dominican Church of Porto Salvo in Valletta.
This biography is part of the collection created by Michael Schiavone over a 30-year period. Read more about Schiavone and his initiative here.