Our mission is to collect and disseminate information, and to assist with research into the culture and historic heritage of Malta ~ to organize in Malta and overseas, independently or with others, exhibitions, seminars and other activities with the aim of promoting and spreading knowledge of the cultural heritage of Malta ~ to produce publications, catalogues, books, documents and other material that reflect the aim of our Foundation.
2 · Treasures of Malta 92, Easter 2025
FONDAZZJONI PATRIMONJU MALTI
10 A Chance Encounter with Malta in 1817: Uncharted Reflections of a Group of Artists, Botanists, and Naturalists
Thomas Freller recounts the largely ignored descriptions of one of the most expert groups ever to visit nineteenth-century Malta
24 A Story of Veneration and Preservation: The SeventeenthCentury Marian Paintings of the Old Parish Church of Mqabba
Having lost their original setting, Jonathan Farrugia traces the story of the still-surviving Marian altarpieces preserved at the Mqabba parish church, and adds a sixth painting, previously assumed lost, now held in a private collection
34 The Crucifixion of Christ on the Golgotha: A Salvage Project
Nadette Xuereb and Amy Sciberras
42 The Lazzaretto Cemetery of St George (‘Tal-!ofra’) on Manoel Island: A Contextual Corpus of its Recorded Epitaphs
Leafing through his notes and transcriptions drawn up for a report over five decades ago, Mario Buhagiar brings to life the socio-political profiles of individuals buried long ago in a quarantine cemetery
55 Antonio Bosio (1575–1629): Unearthing a Life
Chiara Cecalupo
From Our Digitisation Studio
Anna Cremona
70 She Danced One Evening in Late Spring…: Longing: Lyrical Poem (1978) as a Choreographic Swansong for Nathalie Poutiatine
Kathrina Farrugia-Kriel unpacks a rare and unique 8mm film as a final testament to the uncontested presence of Malta’s matriarch of the art of ballet
77 The Cover
78 My Favourite Object
Charles Paul Azzopardi
82 Bookshelf
Louis Scerri; Christian Attard
86 Cultural Review
Cecilia Xuereb
88 Calendar Highlights
Antonia Critien
Emvin Cremona, (Detail) Untitled, Perspex, glass, mortar, impasto, oil, and metallic gold on canvas, 101 x 76 cm, signed, 1969. (Private Collection, Malta / Photo: Lisa Attard)
from the Editor
The recent inauguration of the Malta International Contemporary Art Space (MICAS), in the derelict Ospizio of Valletta, promises to become a major contributor to the enhancement of aesthetic creativity on the island. It has given a new lease of life to a historically relevant but neglected edifice, it provides vast and elegantly designed exhibition space for art and vaunts all the ingredients to turn into the catalyst in dialogue between the producers and consumers of art and culture. Despite some initial controversy which clouded the launch, the initiative remains a source of infinite gratification and a beacon of hope.
Carnival festivities have just come and gone. Merriment, fun, and some levity too. Very little biting political satire that profiled pre-war Carnivals, very little creativity, that highlighted the sixties. Major artists then created Carnival floats, costumes, and decorations, with some results being simply spectacular, as one would expect from the genius of Emvin Cremona, Frank Portelli, Esprit Barthet, Gabriel Caruana, and some others. That streak has withered. Competent but totally predictable Carnival fare—nothing to surprise, let alone to shock. Why?
FPM has a number of publications in the pipeline, which we hope will see the light in the not-too distant future. Vicki Ann Cremona, professor of theatre studies and passionate expert of the history of Carnival and of the theatre, together with photographic guru Daniel Cilia, have handed in their history of our challenged opera house, dogged by misfortune and ennobled by achievement, with an accent on its overlooked scenographic treasures, rediscovered and finally given the importance they deserve but never got. This all-encompassing study about the opera stage proudly acknowledges financial sponsorships from the Farsons Foundation, the Research, Innovation and Development Trust of the University, and the support of the Manoel Theatre.
Also at an advanced stage is the research by Charlie Cauchi on the origins and development of cinemas and cinemagoing in Malta, from their earliest, timid steps to their unchallenged assertion in the entertainment and educational field. Cauchi will, yes, be relying on archival and written chronicles, but also on indepth exploitation of memory through live interviews.
Two more volumes from the More Histories series are also slotted for publication in 2025. These will be the third and the fourth of the series. The third volume, subtitled Made in the Image, presents the fascinating lives and achievements of some of Malta’s most prominent personalities, or of those who stepped on our shores and left their mark. Meanwhile, the fourth volume picks up on this idea of ‘making’, placing artists, architects, and photographers at its core. The complete series is expected to run to six volumes.
Meanwhile, the Victor Pasmore Gallery dedicated March primarily to poetry, with a workshop based on the lures and difficulties of its translations. An openmic evening at the VP Gallery, in which writers and guests shared their translated poetry and prose, followed. On March 28, the VP Gallery collaborated with Magna Żmien to share the behind-the-lens experiences of digitisation projects, their value to library or archive collections, and personal photographic records. This issue of our journal introduces a new series ‘From Our Digitisation Studio’. We start with the 1969 exhibition catalogue of Emvin Cremona’s controversial exhibition of ‘Glass Collages’, wrongly but more popularly known as the ‘Broken Glass’ series. This feature, based on interviews will, we hope, become a recurrent vehicle to publicise archival treasures we encounter during the digitisation process we have recently embarked on.
Meanwhile, Palazzo Falson in Mdina keeps buzzing with culturally stimulating activities, many dedicated to children. To more mature audiences we offered themed tours, especially inspired from international commemorative days, and are now working towards offering a series of conversations in which experts are invited to comment and offer a contextual backdrop to some of the Palazzo’s most prized treasures.
Treasures of Malta is published three times a year, at Christmas, Easter and in the Summer
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Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti
VO/1762
Conseil d’Honneur
Her Excellency the President, Ms Myriam Spiteri Debono
The Hon. Prime Minister, Dr Robert Abela His Grace the Archbishop, Mgr Charles J. Scicluna
Hon. President
The Hon. Dr Owen Bonnici
Minister for National Heritage, the Arts, and Local Government
Hon. Life Founder President Dr Michael Frendo
Life Founder Members
Rita Flamini, the late Maurice de Giorgio
Founder Members
John Lowell, the late John Manduca
Nicholas de Piro
Board of Governors
Joseph Grioli, Chairman
Giovanni Bonello, Deputy Chairman
Francesca Balzan
Joseph V. Bannister
Max Ganado
Michael Grech
Lawrence Pavia
Matthew von Brockdorff
Michael Lowell, Chief Executive Officer
FONDAZZJONI PATRIMONJU MALTI
&e Chairman and Board of Governors of Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti would like to thank the following donors for their support
ASSOCIATES
THE MARTIN LAING FOUNDATION
BENEFACTORS
CORPORATE SUPPORTERS
MR JEAN CLAUDE GANDUR
FONDAZZJONI PATRIMONJU MALTI
&e Chairman and Board of Governors of Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti would like to thank the following donors for their support
PERSONAL SUPPORTERS
Francis Miller Memorial Fund
PATRONS
PERSONAL
Simon Abrahams & Francesca Del Rio
Mr Neville Agius & Dr Sabine Agius Cabourdin
Mrs Janatha Stubbs
CamilleriParis Mode – Mr Paul Camilleri
Eden Leisure Group – Mr Ian De Cesare
Forestals Group of Companies – Mr Tancred Tabone
Gasan Group Limited – Mr Ian Sultana
Gianpula Village – Dr Roger de Giorgio
GVZH Advocates – Dr Michael Grech
IIG Bank (Malta) Ltd – Mr Raymond Busuttil
John Ripard & Son (Shipping) – Mr Joseph Chetcuti
Lombard Bank Malta plc – Mr Joseph Said
Mapfre Middlesea plc – Mr Martin Galea
Miller Distributors Ltd – Mr Malcolm G. Miller
CORPORATE
O. F. Gollcher and Sons Ltd – Mr Karl Gollcher
PwC – Mr David Valencia
RiskCap International Ltd – Dr Paul Magro
Rizzo, Farrugia & Co. (Stockbrokers) Ltd – Mr Vincent J. Rizzo
Satariano – Ms Natasha Chapelle Paleologo
Shireburn So'ware Limited – Ms Yasmin de Giorgio
Sigma Coatings (Malta) Ltd – Mr Anthony Critien
&e Alfred Mizzi Foundation – Mr Julian Sammut
Tug Malta Ltd – Dr George Abela
Virtù Steamship Co. Ltd – Mr Charles A. Portelli
Zammit Pace Advocates – Dr Roderick Zammit Pace
(Courtesy of the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek)
A Chance Encounter with Malta in 1817
Uncharted Reflections of a Group of Artists, Botanists, and Naturalists
Thomas Freller recounts the largely ignored descriptions of one of the most expert groups ever to visit nineteenth-century Malta
By the middle of the eighteenth century, Malta had become a popular destination for the cavaliers’ tour or grand tour. The prestige and splendour of the Order of Malta, famous protagonist of the epic battle between Christendom and Islam, drew several travellers to this remote outpost of Europe. When in 1798 the days of Hospitaller Malta came to an end, and the islands were assumed by the British Empire in 1800, the archipelago—in terms of travelling—became a stop-over for well-off and culturally interested British and European visitors who called at the Grand Harbour on their way to the Levant, namely the shrines of Palestine and wonders of Egypt.
Thomas Freller currently teaches Cultural Sciences and German Studies at the University of Applied Sciences in Aalen. He has published over thirty books and several papers, and his special areas of research and study are Spanish, Sicilian and Maltese history in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the phenomenon of Christian pilgrimage in early modern times, and literary frauds and charlatanism in early modern Europe.
Fig. 1
Giovanni Pessi, Departure of the Austrian Frigates Austria and Augusta from Trieste to Brazil on 9 April 1817, etching and aquatint, 50 x 70cm, 1817.
Fig. 6
Thomas Ender (1793–1875), Detail of Panorama von La Valetta –am Bord der Austria gezeichnet (Panorama of Valletta, with the [frigate]Austria in view), pencil and watercolour on paper, 29.4 x 140cm, 1817.
(Courtesy of the Kupferstichkabinett der Akademie der bildenden Künste, Vienna)
Other comments show thorough investigation: The formation of the whole island, […] has no trace of lava, and consists of a recent marl or tufa like limestone of late origin; in some parts very soft, in others firm, and the fracture showing a fine grain of a whitish or yellowish colour, and mixed both with numerous particles of mica, and with small, microscopical shells […], or with shark’s teeth.61
The zoologists’ and mineralogists’ observations very often go hand in hand: The shells are chiefly of the species of Mytilus and Corolium, and seem, if we may be allowed to judge from the examination of a few specimens, to be of kind, that are still to be found alive. Besides these petrifications, which are very common in the Grotto of St. Paul, for instance, the island is said to abound in Terebratulites, Belemnites […].62
Prior to this, a summary of the local characteristics of construction is provided: The same stone furnishes the admirable materials for building used in the island. The limestone rock is covered either with loose stones, sand, and dust, here and there converted by manure into garden ground, or by a good rich red clay, and lastly, in part by mould imported from Sicily.63
With the description of the farewell to Malta, the authors once again switch to the official travel report: The contrary wind which had hitherto detained us at Malta, changed in the night of the 30th, to a S. E. [wind], and the frigate lost no time in leaving the harbour. On the 1st of May, at five in the morning, we had the Capo di S. Dimitro to the N. N. W., […] one day later [we arrived] at Capo Martimo, the most southerly point of Sicily.64
Fig. 1
Detail from Antonio Francesco Lucini (after Matteo Perez d’Aleccio), Disegni della guerra, assedio et assalti dati dall’armata turchesca all’isola di Malta l’anno MDLXV […], engraving, 1631. (Courtesy of Bibliothèque nationale de France, département Cartes et plans / Source: BnF, GE BB-246)
A Story of Veneration and Preservation
The Seventeenth-Century Marian Paintings of the Old Parish Church of Mqabba
Having lost their original setting, Jonathan Farrugia traces the story of the still-surviving Marian altarpieces preserved at the Mqabba parish church, and adds a sixth painting, previously assumed lost, now held in a private collection
Over the past five years, significant efforts have been made to conserve several seventeenth-century paintings of the Virgin Mary belonging to the parish church of Mqabba. It is believed that these altarpieces are the work of vernacular artists,1 while being charming in their own way. These conservation projects were accompanied by a thorough examination of documentary sources to properly contextualise the artworks.2 This required an in-depth study of records from the pastoral visitations conducted between 1575 and 1699, a period concluding with the completion of the current church. As a result, several paintings still held by the parish were accurately dated.
Jonathan Farrugia is a diocesan priest and Head of Department of Church History, Patrology, and Palaeochristian Archaeology at the University of Malta. He obtained his doctorate from the Augustinian Institute (Rome). Apart from early Christian texts, his primary research interest is in archival research related to local religious artefacts. His main contribution in this field is his landmark publication on the miraculous effigy of Christ the Redeemer of Senglea.
Fig. 1
Detail of a drawing of a plan of the Lazzaretto, showing the Cemetery of St George surrounded by cattle sheds and yards. The shaded box at the end of the pathway indicates that the structure— the Chapel of St George— was recently repaired and made habitable. A copy of this plan was given to the Department of Public Works on 28 January 1847.
(Courtesy of the Department of Public Work, Drawings and Archives Section / Source: PWD, 59B, Plan 83A / Photo: Lisa Attard)
The Lazzaretto Cemetery of St George (‘Tal-!ofra’) on Manoel Island
A Contextual Corpus of its Recorded Epitaphs
Leafing through his notes and transcriptions drawn up for a report over five decades ago, Mario Buhagiar brings to life the socio-political profiles of individuals buried long ago in a quarantine cemetery
The Lazzaretto cemetery of St George was the longest surviving of the six securely documented cemeteries. It served the quarantine hospital on Manoel Island at various stages of its long history, starting in or around 1643.1 It gets its name from a funerary chapel of St George, which still stands and has been restored. The appellative ‘Tal-!ofra’, by which it was commonly known, stemmed from its location in the sprawling isolation hospital complex.
Mario Buhagiar is a Professor of History of Art at the University of Malta in the department he founded and directed for many years. As a researcher and author of several specialised studies on art and archaeology, his scholarship has won him international good repute; he is Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London and Member of the National Order of Merit.
62 · Treasures of Malta 92, Easter 2025
Taking as a departure point the catalogue printed on the occasion of the 1969 exhibition of paintings by Emvin Cremona, in which he famously displayed a series of Glass Collage works for the (rst (and only) time, his daughter Anna Cremona recollects some of her memories related to this event and her father at work, and hints at some of her personal views on art in Malta from this period.
From Our Digitisation Studio
&is exhibition catalogue was printed on the occasion of an exhibition of paintings that was held in 1969 at the National Museum of Malta, in Valletta, today housing the National Museum of Archaeology. &e exhibition was on show immediately as soon as one entered the museum.
63 · Treasures of Malta 92, Easter 2025
Fig. 1
Stills from the 8mm film footage featuring Mimi Borg Testaferrata performing Princess Poutiatine’s choreography of Longing: Lyrical Poem (1978) at Otrada, Sliema. The film was shot by Victor Gouder. (Courtesy of Karol Farrugia / Image: Chiara Micallef)
She Danced One Evening in Late Spring… Longing:
Lyrical Poem (1978) as a Choreographic Swansong for Nathalie Poutiatine
Kathrina Farrugia-Kriel unpacks a rare and unique 8mm film as a final testament to the uncontested presence of Malta’s matriarch of the art of ballet
In late spring 1978, a young woman prepares to rehearse her solo, Longing: Lyrical Poem. Dressed in a gold costume, with light green chiffon, she stands in the rose-pink studio at Otrada on Tigné Terrace in Sliema, and performs a choreography by Princess Nathalie Poutiatine (1904–1984), to music by Czech composer Zden)k Fibich (1900–1950). The camera closely follows her movements; as it pans out, we glimpse the choreography, rarely seen if on but a few occasions. As she dances around the studio, she performs two pas de valse (waltz steps) travelling on a diagonal pathway, her gaze is directed towards something on the other side of the diagonal of the studio, like she is longing for something unattainable.
Kathrina FarrugiaKriel is a dance scholar, educator, and writer. Her books include Princess Poutiatine and the Art of Ballet in Malta (FPM, 2020), the first book on ballet histories in Malta, and The Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Ballet (2021). Her articles have been published in the South African Dance Journal, Treasures of Malta, and The Oxford Handbook of Shakespeare and Dance (2019). She is author of three webinar series on ballet across the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, and is currently working on The Oxford Handbook of Ballet Pedagogy (OUP, 2026) with Dr Adesola Akinleye (author of British Black Dance, 2019; and Reclaiming Ballet, 2021).
My Favourite Object
Charles Paul Azzopardi
Dr Charles Paul Azzopardi is a photo-historian interested in Maltese photographic history. His research area delves into the photographic practices of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in Malta. He has made significant contributions as a curator and consultant in photographic cultural heritage at the National Archives of Malta and the Richard Ellis Archive. Azzopardi’s research and photography have been published in over forty monographs, further solidifying his standing in photography and publishing. He is also the founder of the Malta Image Preservation Archive (MIPA), a non-governmental organisation aimed at preserving and digitising Maltese photographic cultural heritage, and a lobby group advocating for developing a museum of Maltese photographic history and a national photographic collection.
Mrs Conroy: e real story
James Conroy (1818 – ?) arrived in Malta on 9 April 1861,1 accompanied by his then Protestant wife Sarah Conroy née McDonald (1819–1871)2 and their infant daughter, Jane (1859–1861), who alas would pass away in the same year of their arrival in Malta.3 Forming part of the same travelling circus troupe were a young Richard Ellis (1842–1924), nineteen years of age upon his arrival in Malta, and Adelaide Anceschi (1839–?), an Italian lady from Reggio Emilia, aged twenty-two.
Despite multiple attempts to get their circus troupe business going in Malta,4 the Conroys had to change direction. James Conroy opened his (rst photography studio at 2 Strada Concezzione in Senglea in 1862, using the wet collodion and albumen photographic processes, soon followed by a move to Valletta in 1863. Richard Ellis moved on to open his own photographic business in 1871.
A'er Sarah Conroy’s passing on 8 December 1871,5 and James Conroy marrying Adelaide Anceschi at St Paul’s Anglican Cathedral in Valletta on 17 May 1872,6Adelaide, or Mrs Conroy as she could rightfully and now legally be called, started assisting James formally in the photographic business.
&e Conroys sadly lost their daughter, Louisa, in 1874.7 &e following year, the situation continued to worsen: a contract discovered within the Notarial Archives by Isabelle Camilleri,8 shows that on 19 August 1875, Pompilio Anceschi, Adelaide’s father, from Reggio Emilia, took over legal ownership of James’ immovable property and photographic equipment to be able to sell the lot to support his daughter Adelaide and her (ve children (four sons and one daughter). & is arose because:
il fotografo James Conroy, la cui salute deteriorandosi di giorno in giorno, è giunto ad
uno stato di debolezza tale che mancandogli l’uso delle braccia e delle mani divenute eccessivamente tremolanti, gli è a atto impossibile di applicarsi minimamente all’esercizio della sua arta, unica mezzo di sussistenza della sulla numerosa famiglia.9
&e (nal straw which broke the camel’s back came when Adelaide (Mrs) Conroy legally separated from James Conroy on 24 January 1876.10 In the separation proceedings,11 Adelaide brought witnesses to con(rm the abusive nature of the marriage and alleged James was frequently intoxicated and verbally abusive towards her.
· Treasures of Malta 92, Easter 2025
Fig. 1
Recto (front) of the singular cabinet card discovered as yet documenting Mrs Conroy’s work in Egypt as a photographer a er departing from Malta in 1879.
The Brush of the Evangelist Paintings attributed to St Luke in Malta An Artistic, Religious and
Historical
Evaluation
reviewed by Christian Attard
Author: Mario Buhagiar
Published by Midsea Books, 2024
198 pages, illustrated
ISBN 978-99932-7-975-4
€45
Available from several local, foreign, and online bookstores
At the heart of Mario Buhagiar’s new publication lies an unshakeable trust in the magical and miraculous powers of images— one that assertively transforms images from mere artefacts made up of cleverly arranged pigments on a support, to potent signifiers and carriers of meaning, bestowing upon them an authoritative voice in the shaping of a population’s sense of identity and collective beliefs. Perhaps the strongest of these images’ many attributes, is their claim of a wondrous origin, tracing their creation to the hands of Evangelist Luke.
It is by all measures an extravagant, if not preposterous, claim, and yet it survived across swathes of time, cutting right across periods known for their promotion of rationality and secularisation. As late as the 1980s, artist George Fenech imagined St Paul preaching to a small crowd of Maltese people and, just behind him, he unhesitatingly included St Luke all intent upon painting the image of the Madonna and Child (or the theotokos) on the walls of a cave. Evarist Bartolo, in his intervention during the launch of this book, claimed that, during his boyhood years in Mellieħa, the physical presences of St Paul and St Luke, especially around the area of the Marian sanctuary, felt close enough to touch.
As expected, Buhagiar pulls back the curtain on this belief and he certainly pulls no punches in asserting that there is no possibility whatsoever that these images were created by the painter-evangelist. Yet, Buhagiar still goes on to title his book The Brush of the Evangelist. This decision might be seen as a cheap attention-grabbing tactic but, irrespective of its intent, it still manages to rise above this. For although the author’s academic rigor emphatically tells us that St Luke’s brush had very little to do with the creation of these images, everything pales into insignificance when confronted by the overwhelming power of widespread and deeply entrenched beliefs. In Roland Barthes’ famous exhortation, the author (or artist) might well be dead, for meaning and significance are
bound to happen irrespective, or in defiance, of the creator’s original intent. By the same token St Luke might have had nothing to do with these images and yet his hands and brushes are palpably there—if not in scholarly scrupulousness, then certainly in, the possibly even more significant, collective consciousness.
This review leads us to another crucial consideration: the presence, or absence, of the artist’s handwork within the artwork’s production. One might argue that every work of art is the result of the skilled hand— a manifestation of dexterity and experience gained through practice. But what if the image is regarded as acheiropoietic, created without the direct intervention of human hands? Or, to complicate matters even further, what if there existed a prevailing elitist belief that sullied the very effort of the dexterous hand, positioning it as inferior to more intellectual or conceptual forms of creativity—a devaluation of craftsmanship, where manual skill is thought of as a lesser form of artistic expression.
Icons are often described as being ‘written’ rather than ‘painted’. While this might seem to be only a matter of semantics or an odd choice of verb, the word does insinuate a work of art that does not rely on personal artistic expression but rather one that aims to reveal unequivocally the truth of the scriptures, if only in visual form; icons as windows opened on Heaven, a link with the divine. In icon production, the act of painting is time and again suppressed as if the intervention of human hands is thought of as a taint upon that same icon’s inherent otherworldliness.
This is a belief which is analogous with an argument Buhagiar makes in the book’s first chapter when dealing with artists’ guilds and academies which functioned under the patronage of St Luke. Especially revealing is the setting up in Malta of the Guild of St Luke during the time of Grand Master Nicolás Cotoner. This guild had taken under its wing all manner of artisans, painters, designers, sculptors, and decorators active in Malta in the
late seventeenth century, yet somehow it failed to secure the affiliation of Mattia Preti— Malta’s star artist.
There must be, as Buhagiar argues, a telling reason behind this reticence. For even though the Italian master must have felt close enough to this guild and especially more so to its altar set inside the Church of St Francis, in Valletta, which he went on to endow with a painting of his, something did stop him from affiliating himself as a fully-fledged member. The reason, as Buhagiar suggests, might well have had to do with the many obligations that went around Preti’s cherished position as a knight of St John which precluded him from defining himself as a mere painter. The act of painting was still thought of as a lowly endeavour and a painter’s permanently pigment-stained hands would have been considered as irreconcilable with claims to nobility, such as a cherished position within the ranks of the Order of St John.
Indeed, in Preti’s painting made for the guild’s altar—and which Buhagiar puts on his book cover—St Luke, who could well be considered as a self-portrait of sorts, is depicted holding the tools of his trade, prominently displaying the brush and the bowl full of linseed oil. But he has hung up his palette on his easel’s wooden peg, and rather than painting he is more intent upon forging a link with the viewer and pointing, with his right hand, at his just-finished painting of the theotokos. Preti-as-Luke is here presented far from a mere painter. He is transformed into a link between the worshipper and the divine, a channel conducive to revelation.
The second half of the book delves into three significant icons of the Madonna brought to Malta by the Order of St John, or perhaps by the Rhodiot community that accompanied them in 1530. These are the Philermos Madonna, the Damascus Madonna, and the Eleimonitria Madonna.
Regrettably, the Philermos icon is no longer in Malta. What remains of it is now housed in the Cetinje History Museum
in Montenegro. Until its remarkable rediscovery in 1993, this icon was for over five decades believed lost. The other two theotokos icons can still be found in the Greek Catholic Church in Valletta. The Eleimonitria survives only in a heavily reconstructed form, having been shattered during a devastating aerial attack that destroyed the Greek Catholic Church where it was housed, in March 1942. In contrast, the larger Damascus Madonna, recently restored and prudently removed from the church during the war, remains in an excellent state of preservation.
These three Hospitaller icons, apart from claiming a connection with St Luke, respectively follow three distinct typologies of the icons of the Virgin Mary, namely the hodigitria, the eleusa, and the agiosoritissa
The Damascene Madonna which is stylistically very close to the more popular Virgin of Vladmir in Tretyakov Gallery—even if deemed ‘artistically more accomplished’ by none other than Byzantine art expert David Talbot Rice—follows the eleusa type, or the Virgin of Tenderness, hence the touching faces of the Mother and Son.
The Eleimonitria icon, or the Merciful One, adheres to the hodigitria typology, meaning ‘she who shows the way’. In this depiction, the Madonna cradles the infant Jesus in her left arm while gesturing toward him with her right hand, directing worshippers to her son as their only path to salvation.
The Philermos survives only as a fragment but seems to follow the agiosoritissa typology, which denotes an image of a half- or full-length painting of the Madonna, depicted in a three-quarter view and with her arms outstretched in prayer.
All the Maltese images of the Madonna, believed to be painted by St Luke, ultimately conflate with the deeply rooted Pauline cult—a tradition that could be read as a sort of foundational myth, providing Malta and the Maltese with a strong sense of national pride and identity. As expected, these images fostered a profound sense of the miraculous and the wondrous. They were carried in processions or invoked during times of crisis. Wars, sieges, natural disasters, epidemics, and droughts were all considered occasions significant enough to call upon their intervention.
The Philermos Madonna was, for example, considered to have played a prodigious role in the 1565 victory of the Order during the Great Siege, while the Mellieħa Madonna was considered to have managed to have halted in its tracks an attack by Muslim Ottomans in July 1614. In 1640, the image was invoked once more during a time of severe drought and, true to the faithful’s expectations, on that occasion the skies soon opened, delivering a much-needed downpour that relieved the parched land. The Mdina theotokos was taken out in a procession every 8 September along the streets of Mdina in remembrance of the Great Siege.
The images discussed in this book have all experienced, to varying degrees, vicissitudes and tumultuous histories. Their survival—embattled, restored, reconstructed, and repainted—stands as a testament to their enduring significance as conveyors of meaning. Professor Mario Buhagiar’s book immerses these works in a complex and multilayered cultural context. Armed with this knowledge, our understanding of these images is henceforth bound to be much more insightful, nuanced, and enriched.
Cultural Review
Cecilia Xuereb brings us up to speed with the highlights of this year’s Valletta International Baroque Festival, a yearly appointment that fills some of the most spectacular spaces on the island with enthusiasts of Baroque music
During the first week of January, Christmas and New Year concerts came to an end only to give way to the 13th edition of the Valletta International Baroque Festival (VIBF). Following the success of its first edition, it has grown over the years establishing itself as one of the leading festivals of Baroque music in Europe. It takes place annually over three weeks in January—a time when there are no such festivals in Europe. This has been a major factor contributing to its international success, since it attracts many followers of this genre from all over the world and has become a significant contributor to our tourist industry. In fact, I have met several people who have repeatedly come to Malta simply because of the VIBF. Although it is still associated with Valletta since it was born in the Teatru Manoel (in Valletta) it has, over the years, spread to other sites all over the island, giving it an added interest to both foreign and local audiences.
The programme for his year’s festival featured vocal and choral works, concertos and chamber music, as well as solo recitals. It included many items that were new to local audiences, thus further widening their experience of Baroque music. It is impossible in this short piece to write about all the events, but I will highlight three of them which particularly stood out, at least for me, both for their content and performance.
What better venue for launching the festival than the marvellously baroque interior of St John’s Co-Cathedral? The launch was held on 9 January and marked the 300th anniversary of the death of Alessandro Scarlatti. The Valletta International Baroque Ensemble, together with a vocal quintet, performed this composer’s oratorio La Giuditta, a work that has unfortunately been neglected but certainly deserved a revival. The leading roles, that of Giuditta and Oloferne, were sung by soprano Gillian Zammit and by mezzo-soprano Alessandra Vavasori, respectively. It was rather unfortunate that the mezzo’s voice sounded weak next to the brilliance of Zammit’s. Though not so important to the plot, all the other roles also got some splendid recitatives and arias that were sung most convincingy. These were sung by tenor Cliff Zammit Stevens, bass Albert Buttigieg, and soprano Kate Semmens.
Apart from the music itself, the drama of the piece was emphasised by having the five soloists placed on both sides of the instrumental ensemble, one side representing the city of Bethulia and the other side the Assyrian camp. Steven Devine conducted a
memorable performance, one that must have been a revelation to many members of the audience that packed the cathedral.
The whole festival, all thirty-two concerts seemed to be building up to the closing concert that was held on 24 January at the Teatru Manoel, which is the natural home of the festival. Malta was lucky to have been included in the concert tour with which William Christie and Les Arts Florissants are currently celebrating Christie’s 80th birthday. For the occasion, Christie put together a number of scenes from French operas of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries; the performance certainly justified the prominent position that Christie occupies in the Baroque music world. Together with his ensemble, over the past forty years he has rescued countless Baroque compositions from obscurity; these have contributed immeasurably to the understanding of Baroque opera.
To Maltese audiences, typically so steeped in Italian opera, this was another revelation. Although Italian opera dominated the European stage in the seventeenth century, the French did not take too kindly to it. French composers were encouraged to create their own brand of musical drama, a style of music that was purely French. Christie’s choice for this programme outlined the process.
The first composer featured in the programme was Marc-Antoine Charpentier who imported the Italian operatic tradition of his contemporaries into France. His opera Médée may have been his only work in the genre, but it allegedly surpassed the finest work of Lully, France’s favourite composer for many years. Three excerpts from this work introduced the evening’s performance.
By 1672, Lully, having established his new position as France’s favourite opera
composer, was producing a new opera almost every year until his death in 1687. Lully relied heavily on earlier traditions of French court entertainment in terms of subject matter and structure—action mixed with prominent dance episodes—and he effectively proved that French verse was amenable to sung recitation. He maintained that music did not obscure dramatic action and he effectively established an operatic canon, fixing a tradition and specific techniques that were to dictate the course of opera in France for the next half century and more.
Three scenes from his tragédie en musique Atys were staged—a delightful lullaby scored for two flutes, violins and basso continuo, a duet for soprano and tenor with rapidly alternating recitative and air styles, and a duet that developed into a dialogue in which two pairs of singers sang in opposition alternating recitative and air delivery styles.
Lully’s great rival in operatic France was Jean-Philippe Rameau whose operas dominated the stage of the Paris Opéra in the mid-1700s. His works cover nearly all the sub-species of French opera which were then current: tragédie en musique, opéra-ballet, pastorale heroique, comédie lyrique, and comédie ballet. Unlike Lully, Rameau conceived music to be the primary agent in his operas. He was indebted to the French operatic tradition for his musical forms and for many elements of his style. But his music is more sophisticated. His arias, tender, voluptuous, nostalgic, teasing, and even outrageously satirical, are ravishingly beautiful. His recitatives makes greater use of syncopation, cross accents, and bold leaps, and they are nearly always accompanied by a variety of instruments.
The music of Rameau’s operas occupied the greater part of the programme. Opéra-ballet was represented by scenes from Les Indes
William Christie at the harpsichord during his birthday celebration concert.
(Photo: Rob Matthews)
gallants and Les fêtes d’Hébé. The latter was an immediate success and became one of Rameau’s most popular operas. During this concert it got the most extended performance with an anthology of arias, ensembles, choruses, as well as instrumental pieces, all taken from the different acts of the work. These illustrated Rameau’s treatment of both the vocal lines and the orchestra. Fluid interchange of singing, a rich harmonic idiom, the ariettas with their element of display, and imaginative orchestration were fully illustrated.
Rameau’s greatest claim to fame was perhaps in his tragédie en musique which challenged Lully’s heritage on its own ground. From his most fiery opera that re-told the story of Phaedra’s incestuous love for Theseus which proved to be very controversial, Hippolite et Aricie, we heard a beautiful baritone aria and a chorus that, although sung by an ensemble of only seven singers, lost none of its power.
Also included in the programme was some ballet music and a beautifully sung tenor
arietta from his Pigmalion, an act de ballet, and a soprano aria from Platée, a comédie lyrique
The performance was indeed a grand celebration for a grand musician’s birthday. The performance, both of the singers and the instrumentalists—Christie played the harpsichord—was impeccably stylish. The rhythm was infectious and the concerted scenes were full of elan. Though this was only a concert version, there was strong drama in the music. The interchanges between the singerscharacters were captivatingly theatrical and showed a lot of dramatic involvement. It is impossible to pick out any of the performers, singers, or instrumentalists, for a special mention, since they were all superb, utterly captivating, varied in their stylistc and expressive ranges, and so secure in the vocal pyrotechnics. The orchestra leader, Emmanuel Resch-Caserta, breathed energy into his orchestra providing faultess support to these amazing singers.
Christie’s first encounter with Malta was when several years ago he auditioned
soprano Claire Debono, who made a special appearance at the end of the concert to wish him a happy birthday. Debono, another of our international stars, has been working with Les Arts Florissants ever since.
Daily concerts, sometimes two or three on the same day, filled the period between these two events. One stood out for me, not only for the quality of the performance but also for the rarity, at least in Malta, of having the opportunity to hear not only two outstanding violinsta but also two outstanding instruments during one concert. This was the concert held at the Teatru Manoel, where the string section of the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Michael Laus, performed four concertos by Bach. These included two concertos for solo violin and orchestra, the E major and A minor concertos with Carmine Lauri and Charlie Siem as soloists, and the concerto in D minor for two violins and orchestra which was played by Lauri and Siem in tandem.
Lauri played a Stradivarius violin and Siem plays a Guarnieri del Gesù; both soloists certainly brought out the best out of their respective violins. Their virtuosity and musicianship are indisputable. In spite of the difference in their playing style—Lauri’s intense and even at times aggressive, Siem’s more flowing and cantabile—the interplay between the two instruments was excellent, both in the more virtuoso passages and in the flowing melodious duet of the second movement. This was certainly a performance that will be remembered by all who heard it.
Kenneth Zammit Tabona, the artistic director of the VIBF, claims that over the years ‘the festival has transformed the local music scene, nurturing a new generation of Maltese artists in historically performed performance on Baroque instruments’. The festival created a need for an instrumental ensemble and singers that specialised in the performance of Baroque music. This resulted in the setting up of the Valletta International Baroque Ensemble to satisfy the first need, and the foundation of the Monteverdi Project, now re-named the Abos Project, to satisfy the second—both are lasting legacies of the first festival.
Beyond this, the VIBF has also created an audience, nurtured almost exclusively on the music of Classical, Romantic, and Impressionist composers, that has become aware of and appreciates not only Malta’s rich Baroque heritage, both musical and architectural, but has also encouraged more musicians to study and perform Baroque compositions. In fact, this year was the first time that the artistic director did not have to look abroad for his performers. While foreign Baroque specialists remain most welcome, over 60% of the performers this year were local musicians who could hold their own beside the best of the foreigners.
Carmine Lauri played on a Stradivarius violin. (Photo: Elisa von Brockdorff)
Calendar Highlights
A selection of upcoming events happening around Malta and Gozo over the next few months
Performing Arts
THEATRE PICK
Kristu lura fi Strada Stretta
The Splendid, Valletta 10–19 April 2025
The play centres on a scriptwriter who, during Holy Week, pauses for a beer at a bar on Strada Stretta, setting the stage for this thought-provoking narrative by Carlos Farrugia and Joseph Galea. www.vca.gov.mt
Il-Manifest tal-Qlub Maqsuma
A theatre production set to explore Malta’s political turmoil in the late 1980s through the eyes of its people. It delves into the internal divisions driven by political conflicts between Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici and Eddie Fenech Adami. Directed by Miguel Formosa. Scripted and produced by Josuè and Miguel Formosa.
Spazju Kreattiv, Valletta 9–18 May 2025 www.kreattivita.org
Into the Woods
Into the Woods is a 1987 multiple-award winning musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. Direction is in the hands of Lucienne Camilleri and musical direction under Ryal Paul Abela. The production is designed by Matthew Cassar.
Teatru Manoel, Valletta 9–18 May 2025 www.teatrumanoel.mt
Music
KorMalta Holy Week Concert
The KorMalta Ensemble, under the guidance of Masahiro Taniguchi and with Riccardo Bianchi as Artistic Director, presents an extraordinary programme that weaves together sacred and folk traditions from around the world.
Atrium, Spazju Kreattiv, Valletta 16 April 2025 www.kreattivita.org
MUSIC PICK
Valletta Resounds: The Caravaggio Experience
St John’s Co-Cathedral, Valletta 1–29 April 2025
Held at the Oratory inside the historic St John’s Co-Cathedral, Valletta Resounds elegantly strings together Caravaggio masterpieces with theatrical storytelling and timeless classical music. Critically acclaimed Maltese musicians under the direction of Jacob Portelli bring to life the works of Baroque Masters, such as Handel and Bach, along with the sound of sacred Maltese music by composer Francesco Azzopardi. www.showshappening.com
Nabucco
Based on the biblical books of 2 Kings, Jeremiah, Lamentations, and Daniel, and on the 1836 play by Auguste Anicet-Bourgeois and Francis Cornu, Nabucco (originally Nabucodonosor) is considered as the opera to have permanently established Verdi’s reputation as a composer.
Teatru Aurora, Gozo 3 May 2025 www.teatruaurora.com
Visual Arts
The Queue
An art installation of fifty terracotta sculptures by Francesca Balzan at the newly refurbished Reading Room of what was once the exclusive ‘gentlemen’s club’. This show marks the first of a series of exhibitions by its artist members.
Reading Room, Casino Maltese Until 4 April 2025 www.thecasinomaltese.com
Small Bones of Courage
Complex themes of self-identity and personal geography are explored and negotiated by women artists who share an experience of a dislocation or fragmented memory. Each artist charts her own identity, creating connections between old and new knowledge through memory and experience.
Spazju Kreattiv, Valletta Until 27 April 2025 www.kreattivita.org
EXHIBITION PICK
Malta in Focus
MICAS, Floriana May – June 2025
Selected and installed around the concept of imagined space, the exhibition will include Maltese artists from several different generations, working across differing media and illustrating the depth and richness of contemporary art practice in Malta. Artists featured in this exhibition will include Caesar Attard, Austin Camilleri, Joyce Camilleri, Anton Grech, Pierre Portelli, and Vince Briffa. www.micas.art
Wegfliegen
A solo exhibition by ‘birdman’ Hans Langner who, at one performance in Hongkong in 1996, transformed himself from a human into a bird, at which point a journalist referred to him as ‘The birdman of Hongkong’, the name by which he is now known. Birds have since become his leitmotiv. For the last few years, he has mainly dedicated his work to installations and painting on tapestries and gobelins.
Valletta Contemporary, Valletta Until 3 May 2025 www.vallettacontemporary.com
Threads of Faith:
Liturgical Vestments of the Order of St John
This exhibition showcases historical Roman Catholic liturgical vestments—chasubles and dalmatics—worn by the clergy during religious rites and ceremonies throughout the Order’s rule on the islands (1530–1798).
Inquisitor’s Palace, Birgu Until 31 July 2025 www.heritagemalta.mt
Chronicles in Colour
This exhibition will showcase James Vella Clark’s vibrant artistic journey and celebrate his twenty-five years of artistic evolution. This retrospective will present Vella Clark’s dynamic transformation from his early expressionist landscapes to his more recent bold abstract expressions.
Spazju Kreattiv, Valletta 2 May – 22 June 2025 www.kreattivita.org
Emerging Visions – SOA 2025
The exhibition offers an intriguing glimpse into the School of Art’s formative processes, featuring the artistic outcomes of various methodologies, experimentations, and creative expressions.
Spazju Kreattiv, Valletta 22 May – 29 June 2025 www.kreattivita.org
Festivals
Malta Spring Festival – A Radiant Future
An annual classical and contemporary music festival known for its innovative programming and commitment to new orchestral and chamber works.
Around Valletta
22–26 April 2025 www.maltaspringfestival.com
Ritmu
Ritmu Roots Festival is an international music festival, showcasing contemporary performances of traditional music which aim to inspire and connect people.
Location to be confirmed 21–24 May 2025 www.festivals.mt
Skeċċ – The National Short Play Festival
This newly-produced festival serves as a vital platform for fresh voices and emerging talent, fostering creativity and encouraging new perspectives within the theatre community.
Spazju Kreattiv, Valletta 6–7 June 2025 www.kreattivita.org
Malta International Arts Festival
MIAF blends innovation with accessibility— curating a programme of artistic excellence with strong contemporary aesthetics, accessible to a wide audience.
Around Malta 13–22 June 2025 www.festivals.mt
FESTIVAL PICK
Malta Jazz Festival
City Theatre; Ta’ Liesse, Valletta 7–12 July 2025
A highly anticipated event for jazz lovers! Year after year this festival lives up to its well-earned reputation as an internationally recognised and soughtafter event that brings together local and foreign musicians over six days. www.festivals.mt
Dance Festival Malta Celebrate movement over four days as the festival hosts a series of workshops, masterclasses, and performances that explore the richness of the universal language of dance.
Location to be confirmed 24–27 July 2025 www.festivals.mt
On Screen
MET LIVE: Le Nozze di Figaro
Conductor Joana Mallwitz, in her MET debut, takes the podium to conduct a stellar ensemble cast performing one of Mozart’s most exceptional operas.
Spazju Kreattiv Cinema, Valletta 26 April 2025 www.kreattivita.org
Eden Cinemas, St Julian’s 22; 25 May 2025 SCREEN PICK
Ballet to Broadway: Wheeldon Works
Sensuous contemporary ballet meets the energy of musical theatre in four distinctive short works, showing the remarkable choreographic range of Christopher Wheeldon. www.edencinemas.com.mt
Michelangelo – Love and Death
A cinematic journey through the print and drawing rooms of Europe, the great chapels and museums of Florence, Rome, and the Vatican, to seek out a deeper understanding of this legendary figure’s tempestuous life, his relationships, and his incredible legacy.
Spazju Kreattiv Cinema, Valletta 23 May; 4 June 2025 www.kreattivita.org
