Carlo Darmanin in his old age, together with his signature. A picture of a younger Carlo does not seem to be available. Photo: J.F. Grima Collection

November 26, 1909: Carlo Darmanin, the ‘prince of Maltese statuaries’, thus dubbed by Siġġiewi-born Nikola Zammit, passed away at the venerable age of 84 after spending a lifetime producing mainly exquisite statues, most of which are to be found and appreciated in almost all the Maltese parishes existent at the time. His output was prodigious and the quality almost always very good. This is a brief look at his life’s work.

Carlozz, as he was affectionately known, was born in Senglea on August 30, 1825, the son of Giuseppe and Mary, née Cumbo. Giuseppe was a master marbler and headed a company – Giuseppe Darmanin e Figli – that undertook marble works for private individuals, churches and the government, including some work at the Valletta gubernatorial palace.

Carlo Darmanin’s neglected grave at Marija Addolorata Cemetery. Photo: J. F. Grima Collection

Carlo Darmanin’s funeral memorial card. Photo: J.F. Grima Collection

As the company name seems to imply, Giuseppe was responsible for the artistic training of his sons, including Carlo who, however, soon left the family business and took up the art of papier-mâchè, probably because of a decline in the family fortunes due to Italian competition.

It is also held that his kinsman, Gerolamo Darmanin (1834-68), himself an accomplished statuary, encouraged him to take up this art form. His elder brother Giovanni (1817-1908) eventually also followed in Carlo’s footsteps and produced a number of papier-mâchè street and processional statues.

The Angel holding the Paschal Candle at Qormi’s parish of St George. This was also an innovation because, traditionally, the candle was placed on a large candle-stick. Photo: J.F. Grima

In 1848, Carlo married Annette Ready, the daughter of Scottish parents, though she was actually born at Għaxaq. She must have been very pretty judging from Carlo’s rendition of Qormi’s paschal angel’s face, which he fashioned on his wife’s features.

The Darmanin family, which by time included 10 boys and six girls, settled in Ħamrun where Carlo established his workshop. Carlo frequently used his family members as models for his statues, which he moulded in papier-mâchè the Maltese way with the use of sack-cloth (xkora) for clothing his figures instead of the Italian use of paper, although he was not averse to importing facial moulds from Italy.

He adopted the purist style, thus ensuring that his processional statues really evoked the devotion of onlookers. His output may be roughly considered under three divisions: angels and statues for street feast decorations, titular statues and Holy Week processional statues.

Qormi’s paschal angel’s face he fashioned on his wife’s features

Decorative street statues

It is well-nigh impossible to list the vast number of angels and statues Darmanin and his workshop produced to decorate the processional routes of the many village/town titular processions, most of which are still in use nowadays.

Carlo Darmanin in his workshop with a statue of St Anthony of Padova. Behind him is the bozzetto for a street statuary group of The Martyrdom of St George, which one of his pupils, Carmelo Mallia, eventually made after Darmanin’s demise. Photo: J.F. Grima

These statues not only include saints and the like, but also effigies of personalities such as that of Grand Master Pinto, which regularly graces the main band stand of Qormi (St George’s feast). One can also mention the beautiful angel holding the paschal candle at the Qormi parish of St George which is, I believe, unique in the Maltese islands, since other parishes prefer to use large, decorative candlesticks (gandlieri).

Darmanin must have had a thriving workshop with a number of assistants to enable him to cope with the great number of commissions he was given. Some of them, like the Qormi-born Carmelo Mallia (Il-Lhudi) (1869-1931) and Giuseppe Cilia (Il-Bellettu) became sought-after statuaries in their own right.

He also produced bozzetti, which he did not transform into full-blown statues, a case in point being the group featuring the Martyrdom of St George, which after his death was eventually produced by his pupil, the already-mentioned Carmelo Mallia.

Titular statues

Darmanin fashioned no less than five titular statues for parish churches. Lija’s statue of The Transfiguration, which includes Christ, Moses and Elijah, was made in 1864, and is reckoned to be one of his masterpieces. Ħamrun’s St Cajetan, made in 1885, is widely admired, while the 1893 statue of St Julian, at St Julian’s parish church, has a striking simplicity which is very attractive.

Lija’s titular statue depicting The Transfiguration made in 1864, reckoned to be one of Darmanin’s masterpieces. Photo: J.F. Grima

Ħamrun’s beautiful titular statue of St Cajetan, made in 1885. Photo: J.F. Grima

Unfortunately, his other two efforts, St Leonard (1877) for Kirkop and St Margaret (c.1863) for Sannat were replaced by Italian imports in 1949 and 1891, respectively.

Though not, strictly speaking, titular statues, Darmanin also produced processional statues like his Virgin of the Holy Rosary (1860) and The Immaculate Conception (1894), both housed at the Qormi parish church of St George.

Holy Week statues

Cospicua’s 1878 statuary group of The Agony in the Garden made in 1878. In this work, Darmanin broke new ground by changing the position of Jesus and inserting two angels instead of the traditional single one. Photo: J.F. Grima

Perhaps most people associate Darmanin with the statues he produced for Holy Week processions. His output was prodigious. It is sufficient to note that no less than 28 of his statues, or parts of statuary groups, are still carried shoulder-high in procession up till the present day at Cospicua, Għargħur, Għaxaq, Senglea, Mosta, Naxxar, Qormi, Rabat (Malta), Valletta, Żejtun and Qala. This list is enough to demonstrate how Darmanin’s work is found in practically all the corners of the islands, especially in Malta, though it seems he never fashioned a statue of The Risen Christ (l-Irxoxt) or a complete set of processional statues for just one particular locality, though he came close to doing so at Mosta. But, when producing works in this genre, Darmanin has also to be considered as an innovator as shall presently be expounded.

Considered to be one of his masterpieces, Darmanin’s Agony in the Garden for Cospicua (1878) includes two departures from the then accepted artistic norm: a swooning Jesus lying on his back (instead of kneeling) and two angels (instead of one) ministering to him. He repeated this novelty in the late 1880s with a similar statue for Qormi, though it is inferior to his effort for Cospicua. This statuary group is considered a breakthrough due to the inclusion of an additional angel and the swooning position of Christ.

Another innovation was his Veronica (1895) for the Mosta procession, in which Veronica is flanked by a young girl holding a pitcher. The inclusion of this figure was something new and is based on the revelations of a German mystic, Blessed Catherine Emmerich. As was usual with most of his other renditions of this episode, Veronica is placed on a high rock to make her more visible to onlookers and Christ’s face is imprinted on Veronica’s veil which reaches down from her head.

Qormi’s breakthrough statue of The Betrayal by Judas Iscariot made in 1908. It remained unique in the Maltese islands till 1961. Photo: J. F. Grima

Mosta’s 1895 statue of Veronica, which also features a young girl carrying a pitcher. The inclusion of the young girl was also an innovation by Darmanin. Photo: J.F. Grima

However, his innovative spirit reached his zenith in his old age when, in 1908, at the age of 83, he produced an entirely new episode for local processions: The Betrayal by Judas Iscariot for Qormi. Judas is portrayed in the act of kissing Jesus while hiding his bag of coins behind his back. This statue remained unique in the Maltese islands till 1961, when Żejtun imported a similar statue from Italy, and other localities eventually followed suit. Even so, it is still reckoned to be the best local statue of this Passion episode. Perhaps it is pertinent to note that Darmanin, who was not averse to reusing his facial moulds a number of times, used his moulds of The Transfiguration and St Cajetan to fashion the faces of Jesus and Judas respectively.

Senglea’s The Scourging at the Pillar, which Darmanin made some time before 1868. Photo: J.F. Grima

Darmanin also carried out restoration work on a number of statues in various localities. Perhaps the most important restoration work he carried out was on Senglea’s revered statue of Christ the Redeemer (ir-Redentur) where he slightly modified the statue’s position by creating a support for the right elbow. It also seems that the tunic was resurfaced.

Darmanin was a pioneer in the first changes and development of the iconography of local Holy Week processional statues after a couple of centuries of stagnation. His contribution to the development of religious art through his devotional paper-mâchè statues that were ‒ and still are ‒ so popular among the people of the Maltese islands, has made him the best-known Maltese statuary right up to the present day.