A new exhibition Francesco Zahra (1710-1773) 250th Death Anniversary at Il-Ħaġar Museum in Victoria commemorates the death of Zahra who is generally considered to have been the greatest painter in Malta during the 18th century.

The exhibition, curated by Keith Sciberras, is part of the 26th Victoria International Arts Festival, an event co-sponsored by the museum.

Zahra produced a wide range of work from his mid-teens until his death, including many religious paintings, devotional works including those for altarpieces and church domes, and designs for gravestones and marble floors, silverware and more. He is also known for his portraiture.

A self-portrait by Francesco Zahra.

Entering the museum, visitors are greeted by two pictures that show the large choir laterals from the neighbouring St George’s basilica. Two of his most significant works, they show The Trial of St George before the Tribunal of the Roman Emperor Diocletian and The Martyrdom of St George. Painted in 1763, both were restored to their former glory in 2019.

The exhibition, however, is found on the top floor of the museum – a hushed space with a devotional aura, and if visitors were to be there as the clock strikes the hour, the place resonates with the ringing of the cathedral’s bells – a sound appropriate to this hallowed atmosphere.

The first image in the show is a self-portrait of Zahra showing him wearing a lace-fronted chemise and glinting earring with brush in hand. In his mid-40s, we ‘meet’ Zahra at the peak of his career.

St John the Evangelist

To his left, a series of large portraits of clergymen and members of Maltese nobility hang on a long wall, their likenesses captured with painterly effects rather than an absolute realism.

A young girl is a flash of rich red among dark robes and white trim, in which straight-faced subjects hold letters and books to symbolise their wealth and learning. And while this exhibition commemorates Zahra, a number of works – both portraits and devotional works – are pieces by his contemporaries for the purpose of comparison.

Who was Francesco Zahra?

Born in Senglea, the son of a stone carver, Zahra’s birth date and details about his childhood are sketchy. Clear in Zahra’s work, however, is the influence of painter Gio Nicola Buhagiar with whom Zahra is believed to have trained in his early years.

Guardian Angel

Buhagiar’s studio in Valletta and Zahra’s home in Senglea were only a short boat ride apart at a time when the artistic climate in Malta was largely the product of home-grown artists. It is fascinating to compare Zahra’s portraits of Bishop Paolo Alpheran de Bussan with the portrait of the same man by Gio Nicola Buhagiar, for example.

Works on show also include those of Buhagiar’s father and brother, his artistic rival Enrico Regnaud and the Rome-trained French artist Antoine Favray who arrived in Malta in the 1740s.

Zahra became the uncontested talent in religious art for the diocese

As Zahra matured – and demand for both portraiture and his biblical works grew – Zahra’s art was increasingly influenced by Favray, fresh from Italy, whose “rigorous compositional discipline, restrained forms and narrative clarity contrasted with the more crowded approach of Gio Nicola Buhagiar”, says curator Sciberras.

While Favray became a favourite of the Order of St John, Zahra became “the uncontested talent in religious art for the Maltese diocese”, his success coinciding with an unprecedented boom in church-building.

Virgin of Providence

It is no surprise, therefore, that this exhibition is a celebration of Zahra’s rich devotional works, both well-known and recently discovered, which are again shown alongside equivalent paintings by his contemporaries. Their Baroque grandeur, inherent drama and expressive emotions made Zahra’s work extremely fashionable as changes in the art scene abroad were welcomed here.

“Zahra was undoubtedly a leading protagonist of the mid-eighteenth-century late Baroque era,” continues Sciberras.

“Extremely prolific, he executed works characterised by a decorative appeal and theatrical manner that anchored it in the wider stylistic spirit of the Italian settecento [a period of Italian history and culture].”

Banner of St Innocent Martyr (obverse)

Zahra was buried at St Paul’s Shipwreck in Valletta: it’s fitting therefore that a striking painting in the heart of the show is Zahra’s St Paul Shipwreck. And, appropriately for an exhibition that marks the anniversary of his death, in a central case, the deeds of Zahra’s final can be seen in a thick notary’s book reminding us not only of the artist but of the man too.

It is an opportunity to see Virgin of Loreto and St Aloysius Gonzaga which been restored for this exhibition, and it’s interesting to see two large paintings by Gio Nicola Buhagiar, one of which has been recently restored and hangs in resplendent colour while its partner still awaits restoration work.

Further conservation and restoration of Zahra’s work is currently underway in the museum’s restoration room for which donations are welcomed.

Il-Ħaġar – Heart of Gozo Museum, St George’s Square, Victoria, Gozo, is open Monday-Sunday from 9am-5pm. Entrance is free. The exhibition runs until September 3. A new book from the Il-Ħaġar GEMS series Francesco Zahra (1710-1773) is available at €20. It includes the paintings from the exhibition and a brief overview of Zahra’s life and work.