Treasures of Malta

Ed. Giovanni Bonello No. 83, Vol. 28, Issue 2

Published by Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the setting up of Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti, of which Treasures of Malta has remained its glorious flagship publication. The editorial of the present issue rightly crows about its shining achievements, exceptional exhibitions, luscious, researched publications, and the stewardship of Norman House in Mdina.

No mean achievements in a country that has tended to be laid low by sheer greed and the incurable virus of philistinism. At an age when only price seems to decide the worth of anything, the Fondazzjoni has bravely soldiered on, a beacon of good taste and lasting values.

An elegant plaster cast of Dance Classique by Ġorġ Borg (1906-83) graces the cover. Sabrina Calleja Jackson gives a concise appraisal of the work which today lies at the MUŻA together with brief biographical information about the artist.

Borg’s work was inspired by Mary Scicluna (1913-90), Sir Hannibal Scicluna’s daughter. Trained in classical dance by Nathalie Poutiatine, she performed in two concerts at the Royal Opera House in 1933 and 1934 at a time when the art was not exactly favourably looked upon by the higher classes for their daughters. The following year she went to Paris where she followed professional classes under Lubov Egorva, while working as a salesgirl at the Gallerie Lafayette close by. In 1939, she made her final performance. Kathrina Farrugia Kriel, head of research at the Royal Academy of Dance in London, sheds light on this almost-forgotten personality.

Theresa Vella writes about the Gozitan artist Joseph Calleja (1924-2018) who in the late 1950s settled in Canada where he had a successful career both as an artist and a teacher, and where he died on the day of his 94th birthday. His distance from the island meant that he was little known over here until an exhibition of his work was held in 1996.

Calleja’s works marked by constant research and experimentation, include installations where light plays a dominant role, kinetic sculptures, and sculptures in his original favourite medium, stone. His series of paintings entitled The Sacrifice of the Lambs, decrying the loss of life in war, was carried out between 1985 and 2000.

One of Edward C. Young’s watercolours.

Nicholas DeGaetano concludes his two-part contribution on unpublished works by Mattia Preti by analysing three new works attributable to the master. These are a Caravaggesque The Card Players which today lies in the National Museum of Fine Arts in Santiago, Chile; a Caritas Romana in a private collection in Naples; and The Revenge of Queen Tomyris which was auctioned at Sotheby’s last year.

Caroline Tonna discusses theatrical dress in the portraits of pioneering photographer Leandro Preziosi (1830-69), mostly based on a collection of high-quality historic portrait photographs found in a unique album in a private collection. The subjects performed in operas at the Royal Opera House in the late 1860s. These pictures “provide an excellent documentation for the study of dress history in Malta”.

At an age when only price seems to decide the worth of anything, the Fondazzjoni has bravely soldiered on, a beacon of good taste and lasting values

Some of these portrait photographs, many of performers in theatrical costumes, were also reproduced on small cardboard paper and circulated as collectables. One photo is that of Maestro Paolo Nani, one of the great musical figures of the 19th century.

Between 1830 and 1832, Edward C. Young (1806-56), served on an American vessel in the Mediterranean. At a stop in Malta, he carried out 10 watercolours relating to Malta for an album of costumes of the Mediterranean which have hitherto remained unknown. Emanuel Chetcuti throws light on the man and his drawings.

The cosmopolitan nature of early 19th-century Malta can be witnessed in the pictures of the various nationalities Young drew which include Greeks, a Greek priest, and Armenians, as well as an aged knight of Malta and a private British fusilier.

Franco Masini rightly describes Sir Adrian Dingli (1817-1900) as “arguably the most important personality in the second half of the nineteenth century”. Following in his father’s legal footsteps, in 1849 he won the Gozo seat in the council of government, where his legal brilliance attracted the attention of governor Sir William Reid who offer him the position of crown advocate. Between 1880 and 1894 he served as chief justice.

Sir Adrian remains famous for his achievements in the legislative, administrative, and social fields. He played a significant role on the codification of laws, updating the Civil Code creating in the process “a monument of legislation which constituted an honour for a most civilized nation”.

Antonello Gagini’s Madonna and Child at Ta’ Ġieżu church in Rabat.

As adviser to the colonial administration, he was consulted on practically every important activity, being dubbed as the de facto governor of the island. In Gozo he was the main driving force in making the island a separate diocese, personally presenting a petition to that effect to the pope.

Antonello Gagini’s Madonna and Child at Ta’ Ġieżu church in Rabat is probably the most important Renaissance work of art in the island. Jamie Farrugia’s excellent contribution makes full use of the information gathered following its restoration. Extensively damaged in the past, it had also suffered some crude interventions. The sculpture which today consists of white marble originally had delicate polychromic decorations of which only traces have survived. The accompanying digital hypothetical reconstruction brings out its sheer beauty.

Unfortunately, the statue lacks its original base which lies at the MUŻA which will obviously not give it up. In a previous contribution I had made a plea for a replica using a 3D printer to be made to restore the wholeness of the work of art. Surely some kind benefactor, company, or organisation can find the few hundred euros necessary. Fondazzjoni Patrimonju perhaps?

George Gregory Buttigieg’s favourite object is a copy of Michelangiolo Grima’s Della Medicina Traumatica altrimenti detta Vulneraria published in Florence in 1773. A surgeon of exceptional achievements (he could remove a bladder stone in two-and-a-half minutes, naming other signal interventions) his reputation spread far beyond local shores.

He published 15 major medical works. Buttigieg’s copy contains a handwritten note stating that Grima died of a broken heart in 1798 because of the French invasion.

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