It is a tradition within the Maltese islands for parishes to have a statue or two depicting an important moment from the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, with the bigger churches owning an entire set of statues that are led out in procession annually on Good Friday.
Together with these, some parishes would even have a statue of the Risen Christ which would be brought out of the church and taken around the locality’s streets either on Easter morning or in the afternoon ‘Il-ġirja bl-Irxoxt’ (the run with the Risen Christ) is historically bound with Cottonera where, unto this day, the statue bearers run with it for a short moment. This is considered to be the climax of the procession.
L-Irxoxt il-Qadim (Old statue of the Risen Christ)
St George’s Basilica in Victoria also owns a statue of the Risen Christ. The one presently revered in the parish church replaced an old one, which was smaller in size and stature. It was also definitely inspired by the one in the Vittoriosa collegiate parish church and is now found at Il-Ħaġar Museum next to St George’s Basilica.
The Valletta and Grand Harbour area was known for its various sculptors and this could be the reason why many would look up to the main churches of the area for their new versions of Good Friday and Risen Christ statues.
The old Irxoxt at Il-Ħaġar is made of papier-mâché. It was restored by Prevarti of Mosta before finding its place in the museum (‘Antique Statue of the Risen Christ Restored’, Times of Malta, May 6, 2021).
The late Canon Nicholas Vella Apap, who came up with the idea of a new statue of the Risen Christ, with artist Alfred Camilleri Cauchi.The Risen Christ of today
The statue of the Risen Christ presently revered at St George’s Basilica is the work of Maltese sculptor Alfred Camilleri Cauchi. Some may prefer to consider him a Gozitan since he is one of the sons of the late Wistin Camilleri of Victoria, whose family originally hailed from Cospicua and Żejtun (Stanley Mangion and Christopher Magro, Wistin Camilleri. L-Ewwel Artist Għawdxi Malta, 2021).
The statue bears no similarity to the one it succeeds. First of all, it is made of wood.
The sculptor was inspired by the statue of the Risen Christ of Cospicua. We are told that the “beautiful wooden statue of the Risen Christ is attributed to an anonymous Spanish sculptor. It was brought to Cospicua in 1714 and donated to the fraternity of the Holy Crucifix by its rector” (Jesmond Manicaro, ‘Cospicua’s Risen Christ’, Times of Malta, August 1, 2018).
It was the late Canon Nicholas Vella Apap who came up with the idea of a new statue of the Risen Christ for the basilica.
During an informal interview with his friend Anton Attard (ta’ Kunċetta), a carpenter whose workshop still sits at Sir Arturo Mercieca Street (previously Triq Santa Dminka) in Victoria found out that Attard wanted to become a benefactor of his native parish church.
Vella Apap, a member of the College of Canons of the Basilica, suggested he should fork out money for a new statue of the Risen Christ to replace the old one.
It was then that Attard, together with his wife Francesca née Sacco, contacted Camilleri Cauchi. It was decided that the statue would be sculpted out of wood known as ‘tiama’ (Joseph Grech, Il-Vari ta’ Kristu Rxoxt fil-Knejjes ta’ Malta u Għawdex PEG, Malta 2000).
The statue shows the Risen Christ clad in white with his left hand holding a golden palm. He sits on a wooden plinth covered in silver, the work of Francesco Sacco of Victoria, a relative of Attard’s wife Francesca. The statue came out for the first time on Easter Sunday morning of 1997.
Since then, on Easter Sunday, at about 9am, the new statue of the Risen Christ is paraded around the streets of Victoria, carried shoulder-high and accompanied by the La Stella Band of Victoria. It exits the basilica to be taken around the streets and is eventually taken back into the church where it is then placed under one of the arches in the main aisle of the church for the veneration of the faithful.