In 1610, a group of nine men got together and sent a petition to Bishop Gargallo requesting permission to set up a confraternity dedicated to Our Lady of Charity attached to the church of St Paul’s Shipwreck in Valletta.

Among them were the established Valletta notary Giovanni Simone de Lucia; the ‘spatario’ Geronimo de Micastro, who came from a family of sword makers; and Gio. Domenico di Napoli, who was later to leave a fund to the confraternity.

They wished to have a chapel to be of service to the poor, to see to their funeral and burial and to carry out charitable deeds. The request was granted on December 2, 1610. Notary de Lucia and Gio. Domenico di Napoli were the first two procurators.

Apart from seeing to the needy at a time when social benefits were totally unknown, one of the confraternity’s main contributions was that of the redemption of slaves held in captivity in Muslim lands. The confraternity to this day still carries out its mission of tending to the needy.

From its earliest days, records of the minutes, expenses, donations, funds and legacies were all carefully kept. These have been preserved in the confraternity archives, which I was very fortunate to have been permitted to view.

My aim at the time was to find musical material relating to the confraternity in the 17th century. I did find some very precious documents related to music, but also discovered much more.

In November 1649, the confraternity purchased a house alongside the church of St Paul’s Shipwreck from the brothers Andreano and Gio. Domenico Risbé, a family of Flemish descent who had long been established in Malta. This property, costing 765 scudi 6 tarì, was bought with the express intention of building an oratory.

In 1651, the building expenses added up to 1040 scudi, thus totalling a substantial amount of 1805 scudi six tarì for the pro­perty and the construction.

The oratory is a significant addition to the list of known works by Buonamici

A final entry in the list of expenses made for this oratory is one payment which turns out to be of enormous significance: “Dati di regalo al Bonamici per il disegno – 20 scudi” (given as a gift to Bonamici for the design – 20 scudi). This architectural gem was, therefore, designed by none other than the pioneer of baroque architecture in Malta – Francesco Buonamici (in documents referred to as ‘Bonamici’ or ‘Bon amici’).

The oratory is a significant addition to our short list of known works by him. The coffered gilt ceiling designed with alternating squares and rectangles bears some resemblance, and may have been inspired by, the nave of St Peter’s in Rome.

A document showing that Francesco Buonamici was paid for the design of the oratory.

It is, however, given colour as well as gilt and has different, exquisitely shaped rosette carvings in each square. Before embarking on this oratory, Buonamici had already worked on the Jesuits’ church in Valletta and the Wignacourt College in Rabat.

Buonamici was not actually paid for the architectural design of the oratory but was given a “regalo” (gift). Another ‘gift’ of 15 scudi listed in the expenses was given to Mro Francesco Buttigieg, who must also have had a prime role in the building of the oratory. For the Wignacourt College design Buonamici was paid five scudi, substantially less than the gift given to him by the Confraternity of Charity.

Buonamici, who was born in Lucca, arrived in Malta in 1635 as assistant to Architect Floriani, who was to implement the extention of fortification works outside Valletta. Floriani returned to Italy a year later but Buonamici remained in Malta and was under the full protection of Cardinal Francesco Barberini, nephew of the Pope. He is likely to have been in Malta between 1635 and 1661, with two recorded visits to Siracusa in 1650 and 1651.

To these I will also add another visit on September 13, 1652, when our archives show that “Francesco Bon amici d’anni 50” left Malta for Siracusa together with the young artist Michelangelo Marullo, aged 25 (information also worth following up). The years 1650-1651 were precisely the years the oratory was being built.

The year 1665-1666 saw another great milestone accomplished by the confraternity when the musicians’ gallery was added in the back of the ora­tory, thus providing a new space for musicians and for an organ. It is not certain whether this gallery was part of Buomamici’s original design. These plans may yet surface.

Acknowledgements

I thank the Confraternity of Charity, particularly Governor Alfred Farrugia, for allowing me to view their archives; Judge Giovanni Bonello; Noel D’Anastas at the National Archives, Mdina; and Daniel Cilia for the photography.