Forever grateful

I write to add a personal addenda to Stephanie Fsadni’s review of the Vincenzo Bonello Gozo exhibition.

The episode refers to Bonello’s defence of my Manikata church project at the Ecclesiastical Commission meeting. I well recall my hesitation and trepidation as a 25-year-old architect at the presentation of the project to the esteemed commission chaired by none other than the formidable Archbishop Michael Gonzi.

Gonzi, a staunch traditionalist in architectural matters, immediately expressed vociferous adversity towards the project, even describing it as more of a submarine than a church disparagingly adding… “u sottomarin tedesk”, no doubt due to the sculpted cross which he equated to the iron cross on German U-boats’ coning towers.

Things were not going well and it seemed that the project was doomed to rejection. It was then that Bonello, in a persuasive manner, expressed his strong support for the scheme. Following backing by Victor Anastasi, after lengthy deliberations the project was eventually approved.

This episode still stands firmly in my memory and I remain forever grateful to Bonello for his positive intervention. Had it not been for his steadfast support of the project, the church may never have seen the light of day.

Richard England – St Julian’s

Vincenzo Bonello – a man to be remembered

Portrait of Vincenzo Bonello. Painting and photo courtesy of MUŻAPortrait of Vincenzo Bonello. Painting and photo courtesy of MUŻA

I have read with great interest Stephanie Fsadni’s article ‘A tribute to the life and work of Vincenzo Bonello’ (September 7). Bonello was one of Malta’s finest prodigies who gave and gave until it hurt but received comparatively so little in return. This gentleman was an aesthete, a man of principles and, hence, of formidable courage, a person who, with 40 other Maltese, suffered a harshly unjust exile in Uganda during the last World War in spite of having been declared innocent by the courts, a person who has left so many positive imprints in the world of art in Malta.

The current exhibition at Il-Ħaġar in Victoria, commemorating the 130th anniversary of Bonello’s birth, was indeed a due tribute to such a man. In fact, may I add, Bonello is owed much more and on a national scale.

Malta needs to accord him full honour and fully revive the stature of this gentleman, the width of his interests and depth of his generous spirit and knowledge. 

His mild and elegant character who suffered internally but never vented himself, as so many others would have done, offers a clue to his approach to knowledge and wisdom with humble simplicity, discerning the simple answer which could be hidden among the briers of complexity.

One episode comes to mind. Many years ago, the roof of St John’s Co-Cathedral leaked enough to cause nagging damage to the Mattia Preti vault paintings. At that time, care was temporary and insufficient. Unfortunately, a most disastrous restoration, or should one say overpainting, was resorted to in the years 1866-1874 on the basis and false assumption that the water filtering from the roof had completely destroyed Preti’s painting. Preti’s work was thus hidden under a most presumptuous interference. Man had once again managed to exceed the ravages of nature! There is an ocean of difference between restoring and overpainting. The former is required, the latter is almost criminal.

When, in 1923, Bonello became the first fine arts curator in Malta, his professionalism changed the scene. Whenever I look at that vault, I praise Preti but offer Bonello a silent prayer. He saved the day and the vault. He considered the previous work a vandal act (‘colpo vandalico’).

When Bonello examined the work from close, he concluded that all the so-called previous restorations were badly carried out and utterly unnecessary. Indeed, he discovered that the Preti paintings were not corroded nor suffering losses or in any case irreparably damaged as previous restorers had claimed.

They were merely hidden under a film of efflorescence, that is a whitish powdery deposit, which only made the stone look bare. These were first thought to be nitrates but were found to be calcium carbonate.

So this white film made the painting look as if it were destroyed but when these areas were moistened, the underlying colours came to life again. Bonello suggested cleaning those white patches with a solution of paraffin and linseed oil. “Elementary Dr Watson,” Sherlock Holmes would exclaim.

When the world-renowned Italian restorer, Cesare Brandi, came to Malta in 1952 to inspect the vault and its paintings, he totally agreed with Bonello’s report and was of the firm opinion that the protection of the stone structure against water infiltrations would reduce drastically those efflorescences, which could even disappear. And they did.

Just one of the many stories where Bonello’s stature is hidden within the weave of history.

Philip Farrugia Randon – St Julian’s

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