The Archbishop’s Curia, formerly known as the Casa della Madonna di Manresa, was originally built by the Jesuits as a retreat house for the undertaking of the Ignatian Exercises. The Jesuits employed the services of some of the best artists of the mid-18th century to embellish the retreat house, including French painter Antoine Favray (1706-1798), and the Maltese Francesco Zahra (1710-1773).

The Archdiocese of Malta has embarked on a project to restore both the fabric as well as the artworks housed in this significant Baroque house. Since little documentary evidence has been traced to document these artworks’ history, much is left to art historians’ attentive eye to reconstruct the authorship, provenance and possibly the ties of particular works of art with the building itself. A study by Rachel Deguara, as well as conservation work carried out by Amy Sciberras Conservators – Fine Arts Restoration, has allowed us to link a particular cycle of paintings, depicting various founders and doctors of the Church, with Casa Manresa itself.

Such religious works open us up to a higher truth

The opening work of this cycle, now preserved at Dar tal-Kleru in Birkirkara, depicts Saint Ignatius welcoming Saint Calcedonius, presumably into the retreat house itself. Both saints are crowned by the Jesuit motto Ad maiorem Dei gloriam – For the greater glory of God. It symbolically depicts the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius, in the form of an open book flanked by a lily and olive branch, overshadowed by the dove depicting the Holy Spirit. The Ignatian Spiritual Exercises were the raison d’être for the establishment of this house. The whole cycle, of varied artistic quality, has been attributed to Francesco Zahra (1710-1773), Gio Nicola Buhagiar (1698-1752), and other artists belonging to their circle.

One might ask, who is St Calcedonius? We are here immediately drawn into the thick of the Counter-Reformation and its emphasis on the cult of the saints. One of the tools used by the Tridentine Church to counteract the Protestant denial of the intercessory power of the saints and the resultant iconoclasm, was to emphasise their very cult. This was aided by the timely rediscovery of Roman catacombs in 1578, and the transformation of churches into a true ‘theatrum sacrum’, where the new Baroque style was employed to open up the faithful to the heavenly realm. It is within the context of the popularity of relics, and the translation of these ‘corpi santi’ from Rome to every part of the Catholic world, that the cult of St Calcedonius, like the cult of so many others, must be traced.

Having completed their construction of Casa Manresa, the Jesuits needed to draw people to their new retreat house, and there was no better way of doing it than requesting from Rome the gift of the remains of a Christian martyr. The remains of St Calcedonius thus arrived at the chapel from the cemetery of Pretestato, Italy, on May 20, 1753, as a gift from Pope Benedict XIV. This gift had been requested by Fr Pier Francesco Rosignoli, who founded Casa Manresa, and left Malta that very same year.

The Missionary Zeal of Saint Francis Xavier before and after restoration. Photos: Amy Sciberras Conservators – Fine Arts Restoration

In order not to the disturb retreatants, the chapel dedicated to St Calcedonius was built at the back of the main altar, and had a separate entrance on the side of the building. The relics could thus be venerated from the sides of the altar in which they were kept. The cult of this martyr eventually became so ingrained in the fabric of the house that St Calcedonius became the name by which the place began to, and indeed still is, popularly known.

Other works of art recently restored include two paintings of Saint Francis Xavier (1506-1552). St Ignatius, the founder of the Jesuit order, sent Francis Xavier to evangelise in the Far East, thus fulfilling the missionary vocation Ignatius himself had yearned for. His iconography naturally emphasises symbols related to missionary work. He is normally set in what European artists imagined to be an exotic context, with the cross in his hand.

In one of the paintings in consideration, a tondo of the cycle already referred to, the saint is depicted in priestly choir dress; a surplice and stole. He looks lovingly at the crucified Christ, with a book, presumably the Gospels, on his side. As a symbol, the cross in hand has been related to a particular happening from the legend of this saint. According to his vita, to placate the waves, he dipped the cross in the stormy sea, which fell from his hand into the waves. Upon arriving at the island of Ceram, it was given back to him by a crab.

The second painting depicting this same saint under consideration, is of particular interest because it represents him struggling in the sea, crucifix in hand, pulling people out of the waves. This painting can be tentatively called The Missionary Zeal of St Francis Xavier and has been stylistically attributed to Francesco Zahra. It forms part of a pair; the other depicting St Paul struggling in the waves, with the Gospel under his arms, presumably at the moment of one of his shipwrecks, trying to reach the shore.

The significance of both paintings is clear. Both saints are battling against the wild waters, in the Scriptures a symbol of evil, so as to draw men from the darkness of paganism into the light of Christ crucified. Both, therefore, depict evangelisation as the action through which the salvation of souls is accomplished. St Francis Xavier is shown grasping an indigenous boy by the arm, while a man and a woman on either side, seize his clothes.

The depiction of the indigenous, as European artists imagined them, forms an integral part of the iconography of the saint, a testimony to his missionary zeal which led him to preach the Gospel in India, particularly Goa, and Japan. He died on his way to China, on the island of Sancian. The depiction of his death becomes very popular, as he is shown dying in a pagan land, but surrounded by angels, to demonstrate that no land is forgotten by God.

The iconographic model was set by a famous painting by Giovan Battista Gaulli, detto il Baciccia (1639-1709) showing the Death of Saint Francis Xavier at Sant’Andrea al Quirinale in Rome. Returning to our Zahra painting, rather original in its interpretation of the saint, the work

includes an interpretative inscription, taken from scripture “Salvavit eos in Domino Deo suo” (Osee 1:7). It is an interpretation of a verse taken from Hosea, which reads “et domui Iuda miserebor et salvabo eos in Domino Deo suo” – “And I will have mercy on the house of Juda, and I will save them by the Lord, their God”.

The painting Saint Ignatius welcoming Saint Calcedonius before and after conservation-restoration treatments by Amy Sciberras Conservators.

The painting Saint Francis Xavier before and after conservation-restoration treatments by Amy Sciberras Conservators.

Condition and conservation treatments

All three paintings were in a poor state of preservation prior to the conservation and restoration treatments carried out by Amy Sciberras and her team. Forms of deterioration observed were partly attributed to improper storage and poor care throughout the centuries, and partly due to invasive past restoration interventions, compounded by the use of unsuitable materials.

Among the three works, the painting depicting St Ignatius welcoming St Calcedonius was in the worst condition, exhibiting a very slack and deformed canvas which had major losses and tears mainly corresponding with the underlying wooden and oval strainer frame on which the slack canvas rested. The strainer’s wooden members were not bevelled prior to current treatments, and to some extent contributed to the damage in the canvas and overlying gesso/paint layers. A thick layer of grime was also concealing the artist’s palette and qualities.

Details of the diverse forms of deterioration and damage presented by the three paintings from Casa Manresa, prior to treatments.

The other tondo representing Saint Francis Xavier exhibited divergent forms of deterioration, although forming part of the same cycle. In this case, deterioration was worsened by the presence of organic glues used in a past lining treatment. Furthermore, the painting’s legibility was being hindered by an uneven and thick resinous varnish coating which had aged and oxidised.

The Missionary Zeal of St Francis Xavier revealed a mixture of the mentioned phenomena seen on the other two paintings, including a tentative past intervention to conceal canvas tears and lacunae. A textile patch had been adhered to the verso of the canvas using a rather inelastic and irreversible adhesive which upon its application by past restorers, had trickled onto the original paint layer, leaving evident drippings.

The treatments carried out by Amy Sciberras Conservators included the reversal of past interventions, the cleaning of past glues and varnishes, as well as treatments addressing the original canvas supports which comprised tear repair and the application of canvas inlays whereby the shape of each canvas loss had to be traced, cut from new similar canvas and fixed in the respective lacunae. Materials and procedures used follow current practices in the field of conservation, also taking into account our climate and present-day agents of deterioration.

Other than their artistic beauty, which the conservation work undertaken allows us to glimpse, such religious works open us up to a higher truth: they betray the very reason for which they were painted. Sacred art ultimately exists to catechise, to open a window upon eternity, to elevate the heart towards God the Father for whom courageous men like Ignatius or Francis Xavier gave up their life. May these paintings continue to fulfil this religious purpose as we, the spectators, feast our eyes on the artists’ competence that created them.

Details showing cleaning treatments and the infilling of inlayed losses respectively, of the painting Saint Ignatius welcoming Saint Calcedonius.

Acknowledgments

The authors thanks Archbishop Charles Scicluna and the Curia’s administrative secretary Michael Pace Ross for entrusting Amy Sciberras Conservators – Fine Arts Restoration with this project, which was made possible with the support of APS Bank plc.

Amy Sciberras thanks her team, including Bernadine Scicluna, with whom this painting was discussed, as well as all involved in this project.