Several Gozitan priests have distinguished themselves at different times throughout the centuries. This remarkable group of clergymen includes, among others, Archpriest Don Lorenzo de Apapis (1501-1586), Canon Gian Pietro Francesco Agius de Soldanis (1712-1770) and Don Giuseppe Diacono (1847-1924). Canon Salvatore Bondì may be considered as forming part of this cohort.

Born on August 3, 1790, Salvatore Bondì was the second child of notary Giuseppe and Rosina née Abela. The baby was baptised that same day at St George’s parish church, Victoria, and given the names Stefano, Francesco and Salvatore.

Salvatore did not aspire to a high civil rank. So instead of following in his father’s footsteps he entered the priesthood. But he knew full well that, due to his family’s high standing, he possessed the means to a higher level of education and the guarantee of higher ecclesiastical office.

Self-portrait of Canon Salvatore Bondì holding a compass and pointing to the design of a church front on which he was working.

Achille Ferres in L’Arte IV (November 15, 1866) provides information on the admirable attributes of Bondì. As a young boy, Salvatore was sent to the college that at the time was under the direction of Don Michelangelo Lauron, and later under Don Michelangelo Refalo. Here, Bondì was tutored in Latin and Italian. Sometime before 1811, he attended the Dominican college in Valletta, from where he received religious instruction in a number of subjects, including theology.

Besides charitable acts, Bondì distinguished himself through his love for the arts. While living in Valletta, he enrolled in the Malta University School of Design. In 1811, he is recorded to have attended the Scuola Superiore della Pittura – Seconda Classe of that school under the tuition of Michele Busuttil (1762-1831) and Giorgio Pullicino (1779-1851).

Bondì was ordained priest at St John’s Co-Cathedral, Valletta, on December 21, 1816, by Mgr Ferdinando Mattei, Bishop of Malta from 1807­ to 1829. A year later, Bondì graduated Doctor of Theology from the Dominican College of Valletta. Very soon, Bishop Mattei appointed him Master of Liturgical Ceremonies at the Gozo Matrice (Gozo’s Cathedral since 1864). In 1819, he was appointed canon of the Collegiate Chapter of the same church.

During his lifetime, Bondì manifested particular interest in the wellbeing of his compatriots, especially families who were too poor to afford a dowry for their marriageable daughters. He would contribute towards maritaggio benefices from his own pocket, thus ensuring these girls enjoyed the security and respectability they needed. Apart from this, he worked hard to establish ways to alleviate hardship, especially the widespread unemployment on the island.

In the middle of the 19th century, Bondì was one of the primary promoters of the revival of the lace industry. The industry’s diffusion all over Gozo, providing work for many poor women, is entirely to his credit. Indeed, lace merchants and workers in the industry habitually sought him for his elegant lace designs.

According to Consiglia Azzopardi, who has been instrumental in the revival of the lace-making craft in the Maltese islands during the last few decades, “patterns drawn by Bondì were mainly geometrical, comprised of repetitions of festoons including small flowers of moski set in roundels, giving the effect of a ‘meander’ design”.

The façade of St George’s parish church in Victoria, built following designs prepared by Canon Bondì.

Bondì was also a painter. In 1818, he painted, in monochromatic tones, the titular altarpiece depicting St Anthony the Abbot for the small church at Xagħra. The painting commemorates the plague of 1813 and shows, in the background, the district of Għajn Lukin, an area in Xagħra where the plague hospital was situated.

Among other works by Bondì we find St Ambrose, from a set of the four Fathers of the Church (the others portray St Jerome, St Augustine and St Gregory the Great). In 1822, he repainted it entirely after the canvas suffered irreparable damage by water infiltration. Bondì himself signed this work with the inscription Can Salv. Bondì me Pinxit Temploque Divi Georgii me donavit AD 1822. This canvas is presently exhibited at Il-Ħaġar Museum, Victoria.

His first architectural work was the reconstruction of the façade of St George’s parish church in Victoria

Ferres writes that Bondì was also interested in architecture, a discipline he continued to study on his own throughout his life. His first architectural work, according to historical records, was the reconstruction of the façade of St George’s parish church in Victoria. The church itself was rebuilt between 1672 and 1678 as a votive pledge since, as a result of the 1693 earthquake, its façade had suffered extensive damage.

A design, commonly held to be Bondì’s work, carries a handwritten caption Disegno delle parti che minacciono rovina della Chiesa di S. Giorgio. Through it, while executing the preparatory work for his commission, he provided an accurate record of the previous façade. The redesigned façade by Bondì was constructed between 1816 and 1817.

Canon Salvatore Bondì together with Salvatore Portelli, the master mason of Kerċem parish church.

The church at Kerċem too was built as a result of a votive pledge, in this case after the cholera plague of 1837. The priest architect was to return again to the design of the façade of St George’s church when in early 1846 he was commissioned to lay out the plan for a new church at Kerċem. Its west front exhibits many of Bondì’s architectural features and draws heavily from his earlier plan of St George’s façade.

At Kerċem parish church one finds a 25cm by 30 cm oil-on-canvas painting that shows Bondì together with Salvatore Portelli, the master mason of the church. Both are depicted sitting at a table, with Bondì pointing his finger to the plan of the church. It is most probable that, being a competent painter, it was Bondì himself who executed this work, which is one of the only two paintings known to exist that feature Canon Bondì.

According to Ferres, Don Vincenzo Cauchi, parish priest of Xagħra, urged his parishioners to build a new church as a votive pledge following the outbreak of the plague in Xagħra in 1814. Being Bondì’s uncle surely helped to secure him the commission. It is probable that Bondì not only prepared the plan of the church but also the layout of the large parvis in front of it. Its foundation stone was laid on October 2, 1815.

Manresa House still stands on the outskirts of Victoria, overlooking the picturesque Wied Siekel and Wied il-Lunzjata. The retreat house, initially built around a pre-existing countryside church dedicated to St Martin of Tours, consisted of a one-storey building in the form of a cloister with three sides. It was probably around the late 1820s or early 1830s that Bondì was asked to provide a plan for a new church, which was eventually blessed by Don Emmanuele Rossignaud, Vicar General, on July 20, 1833, together with the new façade for the retreat home.

A geometrical pattern prepared by Bondì consisting of repetitions of festoons, including small flowers of moski set in roundels.

Bondì was also responsible for the plan of the Bondì family’s palace, erected in the early 1840s, now the Bishop’s Palace in Victoria. It is the only secular building known to have been designed by Bondì. Situated at the top of Republic Street, Victoria, and close to the town’s main square, its imposing three-storeyed façade was surely intended as the ultimate status symbol, an overt statement of the Bondì family’s affluence and political standing.

On March 2, 1880, Mgr Pietro Pace, the then Gozo bishop, bought the palace for the sum of 25,050 scudi. The building was to become an episcopal palace with parts of it serving as the diocese chancery.

A competently executed self-portrait, now belonging to the heirs of the Bondì family, portrays Canon Salvatore Bondi wearing a black skullcap and an eight-pointed pectoral cross as member of the Matrice Chapter. He is seen sitting at a table holding a compass in one hand and with the other hand pointing to the design of a church façade, on which he is working. A partially drawn curtain behind his back reveals a section of Bondì’s palace façade.

Indeed, through this self-portrait, Bondì shows that he wanted to be acknowledged as the designer of the Bondì palace. Furthermore, he wanted to project himself as a skilful architect, capable of executing plans for both ecclesiastical and civil buildings.

Bondì died on July 22, 1859, and was buried at the Gozo Matrice. As a sign of love and gratitude, on July 30, 1859, a solemn funeral was celebrated for the repose of his soul at the parish church of St George, Victoria. During the ceremony, Fr Vincenzo E. Garroni, OESA, delivered a lengthy oration mourning Bondì’s passing.

Throughout his life, Bondì manifested a keen interest in different spheres of knowledge. Endowed with diverse talents, he did not waver to use his capabilities to the advantage of his fellow islanders.

A man of boundless energy, Bondì made good use of his artistic training and exhibited a deep sense of altruism by trying to establish innovative industrial operations with the aim of improving the living conditions of the Gozitan population. Parallel to this, he left an enduring mark on the Gozitan skyline by means of his architectural achievements.

Acknowledgements
The author acknowledges the use of Consiglia Azzopardi’s unpublished Ph.D thesis Maltese Lace of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries – Its History, Technology and Economic Appreciation (Aspects), at the Mediterranean Institute, University of Malta, 2013, and Charles R. Cassar’s unpublished MA thesis Ecclesiastical Architecture in Gozo (1810-1910): The Works of Can Salvatore Bondì (1790-1859) and Don Giuseppe Diacono (1847-1924), at the History of Art Department, Faculty of Arts, University of Malta, 2015.

The Bondì family’s palace, erected in the early 1840s, now the Bishop’s Palace in Victoria. Photo: Daniel Cilia