Salvatore Psaila was among the last genera­tion of sculptors who contributed to the production of wooden processional statues (in Maltese, vari) throughout the 19th century. He is rather underrated by art critics and historians as his artistic clout is more modest than others, such as the acclaimed Melchiorre Cafà or Mariano Girada, Psaila’s master.

As a sculptor of processional imagery, his art was at the service of the religious canons that had to ensure the right and proper representations of saintly figures. An appreciation of his work, therefore, has to be mainly considered from an ethnographical aspect as well as in the historical and artistic context of Maltese processional statues.

St Helen (1837), collegiate church of St Helen, Birkirkara

Psaila was active throughout the first half of the 19th century. Born in Cospicua and having an artistic inclination towards sculpture, he did not miss the opportunity to attend Mariano Girada’s bottega in the same city. This bottega was also attended by the well-known sculptors Pietro Paolo Azzopardi (1795-1875) and Alessandro Farrugia (1791-1871).

In Girada’s studio, Psaila not only learned the necessary techniques in sculpture but he was also exposed to the Valencian artistic concepts that the master himself had acquired during the time spent in the Spanish city under José Esteve Bonet.

Notwithstanding these influences, Psaila’s works in processional statuary can be considered as being technically quite independent from those of his master even though the same cannot be said for the composition of his representations.

The Virgin of Carmel (1842), Żurrieq parish church

The first major feature that characterises Psaila’s works is his preoccupation with human anatomy and attention to detail. This can be clearly seen in all of his effigies, particularly the first two processional statues he produced in his career as a sculptor – the Christ at the Pillar and the Crowning with Thorns (1831) for the parish church of Vittoriosa.

With exquisitely modelled torsos, hands and feet – veins, nails and all – these two statues were executed in a vernacular style and show the sculptor’s ability to carve devout and impressive faces, an element that can be considered as his forte. The neoclassical approach in the production of his works can be seen not only from the tackling of the figures’ anatomy but also from the proportions used. Unlike Girada, whose elegant, elongated figures have a proportional ratio of 9:1, Psaila used a 7.5:1 ratio, giving his figures a more solid and realistic appearance.

The Risen Christ that Psaila produced for the same church at Vittoriosa in 1833 shows how, in the first years of his career, the sculptor was still greatly influenced by the sculpting style of Girada. In fact, the mantle around the triumphant Christ is based on the simple yet effective use of lines in the modelling of the rather flat drapery folds that enhance the anatomy beneath.

Anatomical details from Psaila’s statue of the Crowning with Thorns (1831) at Vittoriosa parish church.

This way of modelling the drapery was totally abandoned when Psaila executed the titular statue of St Helen for Birkirkara in 1837. On this occasion, the sculptor immersed himself in a detailed manner of carving that can be considered as his trademark and where the chiselled spaces between a fold and another cast shadows that give the clothing a realistic and natural appearance.

After St Helen, Salvatore’s works became more voluminous and monumental  while the compositions became characterised by poses that give a certain movement to the figures without being too flamboyant and theatrical. In a time when the baroque’s sense of drama and heaviness were being abandoned in favour of a more Purist approach, it was imperative for Psaila to find a balance between the monumentality and grandeur that he undoubtedly tried to achieve in his works and the devotional aspect of his vari.

Pushing to the limit the properties of the wood

Psaila’s compositions lack inventiveness  and they are based on Girada’s formula where the contrapposto position is counterbalanced by the inclination of the torso and the gestures of the figures. The St Helen, in fact, contains compositional elements that are found in Girada’s statues of the Virgin of Graces at Żabbar and the Assumption of the Virgin at Għaxaq.

Birkirkara’s titular statue also demonstrates Psaila’s different rendition of the female face from Girada’s. Whereas the latter adopted the ideal beauty approach as shown by the round face and pure features reminiscent of the neoclassical style, Psaila made use of a more realistic type of beauty where the face is more oval and the nose has a rather prominent bridge. In the Virgin of Carmel that Psaila executed in 1842 for its confraternity at Żurrieq, the physiognomy of the Madonna is rounder than in the St Helen, yet it still differs from Girada’s versions. This statue confirmed the sculptor’s ability to produce devout, pitiful and almost sorrowful gazes as well as his search for a pompous pose that gives a sense of grandeur and confidence to the general aesthetic appearance of the statue.

The Immaculate Conception (1847), Franciscan church, Victoria

Unfortunately, the Żurrieq vara has suffered considerable modifications and alterations when, in 1872, much of Psaila’s sculptural work was softened in order to conform better with the anti-baroque stance of the time. Therefore, this image lacks the deep carvings and voluminous drapery that characterise Birkirkara’s titular statue as can be clearly seen from the flat way in which the mantle falls behind the statue and the irregular drapery folds around the figure’s waist. The edge of the mantle that falls from the Virgin’s right hand has a very straight contour that differs from the angular and lively mantles that can be seen in the rest of Psaila’s clothed figures. This might show that the mantle in this area was wider but whose volume was decreased to remove the heavi­ness associated with the baroque style.

Representations of the Madonna and Child were quite common and such effigies present in Maltese churches mainly showed the Virgin of the Rosary with their prototype being Melchiorre Cafà’s version at the Dominican church in Rabat.

Christ at the Pillar (1831), Vittoriosa

A breath of fresh air in such depictions was brought with Girada’s 1805 Virgin of the Rosary at Siġġiewi, where Cafà’s model was abandoned for a totally different interpretation of the theme. Unlike Alessandro Farrugia, who created a hybrid version by using Girada’s type of Madonna holding a Cafà-stylised infant Christ for his work at Għaxaq and Xagħra, and Pietro Paolo Azzopardi, who utilised Cafà’s composition but interpreted it in Girada’s style, Psaila didn’t follow his master’s new trend but opted to create an image that is slightly based on Cafà’s prototype but contains the artist’s typical stylistic features mentioned above.

Psaila’s last two works were a St Andrew for the parish of his home town Cospicua (1844) and the Immaculate Conception for the Franciscan church at Victoria (1847). These effigies confirm the artist’s undisputed technical skills yet they also indicate a further development in his style. In fact, in these works it appears that Psaila had abandoned the disciplined approach of his earlier representations and – probably galvanised by the popularity and esteem he was enjoying – he let loose his artistic flair and embarked on the production of figures whose drapery seems to be flowing in a strong breeze that increases the movement and drama in the representations. Their modelling is crisp and delicate, pushing to the limit the physical properties of the wood at his disposal.

Conclusion

Even though Psaila’s unstudied work as marmista was far greater than his contribution in processional statuary, his popularity lies in this aspect of Maltese sacred art, where his remarkable technical qualities make up for the limited inventiveness shown in his representations.

All his statues are considered to be among the finest examples of Maltese religious figurative sculpture and they are all a source of pride for the devotees and festa enthusiasts who pray to and cheer these images as they are carried shoulder-high in the various towns and villages.

One hopes that further studies are carried out on the works of such sculptors so that, despite their limited significance in Maltese art history, they will be given the recognition they duly deserve in the study of art and its relation to local ethnography.