Malta is loaning eight Mattia Preti paintings from its national collection to Poland for an exhibition in Warsaw.
Heritage Malta said on Friday the loan was being made to the Royal Łazienki Museum in Warsaw. The exhibition will run until March 3. It is being held under the honorary patronage of Poland’s President Andrzej Duda.
Malta was also loaning the museum two of the artist’s sketches and other artefacts.
The eight paintings loaned by Heritage Malta are
- The Young St John the Baptist wearing the Habit of the Order of St John;
- Daniel interpreting the Dream of King Nebuchadnezzar;
- Lot and his Daughters;
- Drunkenness of Noah;
- St Bartholomew;
- Doubting Thomas;
- Baptism of Christ; and
- Apelles painting Campaspe.
The painting Mattia Preti Distributing Alms to the Poor, by Giuseppe Calì, also from Malta, further enhances the exhibition, as do two Mattia Preti works which form part of Poland’s national collections – Adoration of the Shepherds and A Game of Backgammon.
The other artefacts from Malta, meant to aid the understanding of the history of Malta and to place the paintings in their historical context, include:
- A Muslim tombstone;
- A pair of steel gauntlets from the Palace Armoury;
- A maiolica pharmacy jar from the Knights’ period; and
- A sample of currency in use during the 38 years that Mattia Preti spent in Malta.
The exhibition is entitled Mattia Preti: Discovering The Baroque Secrets of Malta.
It offers insight into Preti’s strong connection with Malta, his formative years and many travels before settling in Malta in 1661, his aspiration for knighthood in the Order of St John of Jerusalem, and the most ambitious project of his career – the painting of the vault of St John’s Conventual Church in Valletta.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the exhibition, Malta's ambassador to Poland Marisa Farrugia said the exhibition not only crossed physical borders but also forged strong cultural cooperation between Heritage Malta and the Royal Łazienki Museum.
Heritage Malta’s chief executive officer Noel Zammit said that the national cultural agency is working on various levels to make the national collection accessible not only to the Maltese public but also to international audiences.
Initiatives such a the Mattia Preti exhibition in Warsaw helped nurture a better understanding of the value of such works of art and increase the public’s appreciation of these treasures.
Such exhibitions also served as a platform for intercultural dialogue and attest to how national entities can work together to further enrich each other’s national identity, Zammit said.
He hoped Malta and Poland will collaborate further in art and culture.