Preti saints&heroes

CYNTHIA DE GIORGIO

CYNTHIA DE GIORGIO RESEARCH ASSISTANT

JESSICA BORG PHOTOGRAPHY

JOE P. BORG

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For Yasmin and Amber

Published by 3a Strait Street, Valletta, Malta www.midseabooks.com Literary Copyright © Cynthia de Giorgio, 2014 Editorial Copyright © Midsea Books Ltd, 2014 Photography Copyright © St John’s Co-Cathedral Foundation/Midsea Books, 2014 No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the previous written permission of the authors and/or rightful owners.

PHOTO COURTESY Special thanks are due to the Foundation of St John’s Co-Cathedral, Heritage Malta, National Museum of Fine Arts, The Grand Masters Palace, The Archbishop’s Curia, Mdina Metropolitan Cathedral and the National Library of Malta for the Brocktorff drawing and the coat-of-arms from Mathieu Goussancourt, de., Le Martyrologe des Chevaliers des Jean de Hierusalem dits de Malte, Paris, 1643.

Thanks also to the following churches, institutions and private collectors: Catholic University of America p. 16; Church of St Dominic, Taverna p. 21; Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome p. 22; San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome p. 23; Dayton Art Institute p.25; San Andrea della Valle, Rome p. 27, 28; Capodimonte Museum, Naples p. 29; All Souls Church, Valletta p. 33; Midsea Books/Simone Boni, historical reconstruction p. 41; Church of St Publius, Rabat p. 53; Drawing, National Museum of Fine Arts, Valletta p. 66, fig. 75; Church of St Lawrence, Vittoriosa fig. 6; Church of St Catherine, Zurrieq fig. 9, 88, 90; Drawing, the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford fig. 44, 55; Drawing, Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart, fig. 50; Drawing, private collection fig. 66; Drawing, private collection, fig. 73; Church of the Virgin of Carmel, Valetta, fig. 81; The Church of the Jesuit Order, fig.

85, 86, 87; Parish Church of St Paul, Rabat fig. 89; Parish Church of St Andrew, Luqa, fig. 90; Church of the Immaculate Conception Ta’ Sarria, Floriana figs 93, 94, 95, 96; Church of St Ursula, Valetta, fig. 97.

Photography Joe P. Borg Design & Layout Joseph Mizzi First published in 2014

ISBN: 978-99932-7-481-0

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CONTENTS

Preface 5 Part 1 Christian devotion and the cult of Saints Saints, Heroes and the Knights of Malta

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Part 2 An anthology of Saints and Heroes by Mattia Preti 67 Notes 136 Appendices The history of the restoration of the vault and lunette List of Paintings in this book List of Paintings by Mattia Preti in Malta

137 140 141

Bibliography 143

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PREFACE

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Opposite Mattia Preti, St Ubaldesca, detail, vault, St John’s Co-Cathedral, Valletta

his book studies the iconography of saints and heroes of the Knights of Malta as depicted by the artist Mattia Preti between 1658 and 1698.

Mattia Preti’s corpus of paintings was selected because it is one of the most important collections of narrative paintings depicting saints and heroes that received the devotion of the Knights of Malta. The influence of these paintings was instrumental for introducing new devotions as well as the new expressive baroque artistic style to the Maltese Islands. Occasionally paintings of particular saints Preti produced for the Maltese clergy were included to give a complete study. This book attempts to examine why paintings of saints became so popular in the seventeenth century and their importance to the Knights of Malta. This study was made to bring to light the stories of these saints, some well known, but some forgotten in a world of ever-changing cultural diversity.

Many of the stories are based on legend derived from the cult and devotion of saints that developed throughout the ages. Many remained in the hearts and minds of Christians where a detailed oral tradition persisted just like so many other historical facts in the story of mankind that were preserved by the handing down of legends. Tradition is a most important factor in human knowledge and culture.

If all knowledge and culture resulting from tradition were dismissed, mankind would be deprived of a rich patrimony and this would only serve to impoverish human culture.

The cult of saints and martyrs that grew particularly during the Counter Reformation was the Catholic Church’s response to the Protestant Reformation belief that images of saints were idolatry. On the contrary the Catholic Church believed that saints were able to intercede with God and could be invoked to pray on one’s behalf. Catholic art was reverting to its original function – that of serving the Church. Renaissance models of ideal beauty were soon replaced by rules of religious decorum. Thereafter, the production of images of saints multiplied at a great rate. The last revolution of sacred art took place in the Baroque age and

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thereafter Christian iconography in Catholic Europe settled into a stereotyped mould.

Mattia Preti, a talented artist, expressed to perfection the exigencies of his religion and his patrons -he was a product of the age he was living in. Preti’s first work in Malta was for the Order of the Knights of St John the Baptist, specifically for Grand Master Martin de Redin. It was a painting depicting St Francis Xavier.

His enthusiasm to work in Malta, particularly for the Order, drove him to seek a better standing as a Knight of Grace, having already been knighted in 1642.

This wish caused him to offer to paint the vault of St John’s, the Conventual Church of the Order, at his own expense. Having moved to Malta permanently, he received continuous commissions for the Order, the Maltese clergy and nobility.

He remained on the island until his death in 1699. Mattia Preti’s considerably long life spanned almost all of the seventeenth century and he is recognised as one of the leading Baroque artists of the second half of that period.

Mattia Preti’s corpus of works has been well documented by Dr John T. Spike in two extensive publications: Mattia Preti: I documenti: The collected documents, Florence 1998 and Mattia Preti, Catalogo Ragionato dei Dipinti, Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings, in 1999. Any serious study of the life and works by Preti would be indebted to Dr Spike’s writings which set the direction for all future studies of the artist. In his publication The Triumphant Manner, Prof.

Keith Sciberras also gave an important and detailed account of Preti’s life and works. Naturally one must also consider Mattia Preti’s biography by Bernardo De Dominici, Vite de pittori, scultori ed architetti napoletani, written in Naples between 1742-1745. De Dominici’s detailed biography of the artist was for a long time the main source of the details of his life and work. Although some of his attributions may be inaccurate, his writings are doubtlessly a valuable source and an insight to the attitudes of his own times.

The vast collection of documents discovered by Dr Spike particularly in the archives of the Order of Malta are a much more reliable chronology of Preti’s career, whilst James D. Clifton’s discovery of documents in the Archivio Storico in Naples has brought more clarity to his period in Naples. Also frequently referred to, are the important contributions by Alfredo Frangipane and Valerio Mariani.

Vincenzo Bonello in the twentieth century assisted in rediscovering Mattia Preti’s legacy and instigated the restoration of the vault paintings which eventually led to their full restoration by Cesare Brandi. Particularly important to the subject of this book were the Holy Bible (King James Version), The Golden Legend by Jacobus de Voragine and Le Imagini de Beati e Santi della Sacra Religione by Giacomo Bosio.

In this study of Preti’s depiction of saints and heroes and the stylistic development and changes that led Preti to be inspired to paint some of the most impressive interpretations of saints and heroes, it was necessary to include some details of his life, where he lived and where he worked. The evolution of Mattia

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Preti’s extraordinary productive career took place over three decades starting in Rome in the 1630s, followed by a period in Naples from mid-1654 and maturing in the production of his artistic output in Malta, particularly in the decorative scheme of the vault within St John’s church in the 1660s, each phase adding to the stylistic growth of depicting saints.

During his highly productive lifetime Preti painted numerous canvases, depicting saints, for churches throughout Malta. This occurred particularly after 1660, when his popularity increased through the attention he received from the Order of the Knights of St John the Baptist. He also received commissions from Spain, France and Italy, especially from Naples. His biographer Bernardo De Dominici particularly refers to Neapolitans who visited Malta for the purpose of commissioning Preti works of art. As a result, several of his particular iconography of saints spread to other countries.

The greater number of his paintings depicting saints and heroes was commissioned by the Order of the Knights of St John the Baptist. The significance of the particular saints to the knights who commissioned them is explained in the context of the seventeenth century. This book will also serve to highlight Preti’s timeless legacy and major artistic contribution to the church of St John the Baptist, where his brilliant technique and creative ability can best be studied.

Preti’s major characteristic, in the context of seventeenth century painting, was the transformation he made from the High Baroque idiom of centrally focused and organised compositions to highly dramatic arrangements that sprawled over the entire canvas, which became the hallmark of the Late Baroque style.

The book is organised where possible, and, the dates are known, in the chronology of Preti’s production. The first section of the book relates Preti’s life and commissions, while the second part is dedicated to the saints’ stories and legends, each followed by a description of the paintings Preti produced depicting the particular saint and its narrative according to history or legend. All the paintings cited in this book have been personally inspected and examined. This book coincides well with my career as curator of St John’s Co-Cathedral and with my personal interest in symbolism and the significance of narrative in religious paintings.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This book was possible thanks to the support of the Council of the St John’s Co-Cathedral Foundation especially the Presidents Mr Paul A Attard, and Mgr Carmelo Zammit, council members Wilfrid Buttigieg, Dr. Philip Farrugia Randon, Mgr Lawrence Gatt, and Mgr Lawrence Mifsud for their support and encouragement. I would like to thank former members Mgr Philip Calleja and Mr Richard Cachia Caruana. The research carried out by Jessica Borg, and her assistance in writing several of the descriptions, was invaluable, as was the support of my colleagues; Francesca Muscat, Valentina Saliba, Charles Montebello and Anthony Casha. Special thanks go to Lori Scicluna and Martin Bugelli for the laborious task of proof reading the manuscript, Giuseppe Mantella for assisting with the interpretation of some of the documents and the several interesting discussions on Mattia Preti that we shared. Thanks also go to Dr John T. Spike whose research on Mattia Preti was instrumental for this book and Kennis Forte for her assistance with the initial research on the heroes of the Order, as well as Dr Theresa Vella for her valuable comments on the subject. It was my privilege and pleasure to meet Mr Santino Vitelli who hosted my visit to Taverna and who recounted so realistically Preti’s first years. The merit of the beautiful design of this book goes to Joseph Mizzi of Midsea Books and Joe P. Borg for the high quality and painstaking photography. Acknowledgment is also duly given to the Archbishop’s Curia, the Diocese of Malta, Heritage Malta, various religious Orders, parish priests, rectors and sacristans who facilitated photography in the numerous churches.

Gratitude is also due to the international museums, foundations, institutes and private collectors.

I would like to express my gratitude to Prof. Mario Buhagiar and Prof. Dennis De Lucca who were my first teachers and mentors in History of Art. My acknowledgments go to the following persons who have in some way generously assisted my research: Dr Giovanni Bonello; Alfred Camilleri; Maroma Camilleri, National Library Malta; Sandro Debono, curator, Fine Arts Museum; Prof. Craig Felton; Joanna Fleri Soler; Prof. John Gash; Roger De Gaetano; Dr Helen Langdon; Daniela Murphy, restorer; Dr Anthony Pace, Superindendent for Cultural Heritage; Prof. Keith Sciberras, History of Art Department, University of Malta; Prof. David Stone; Giuseppe Valentino, Director, Museo Civico di Taverna; Rev. Edgar Vella; Simone Vettori, restorer; and, Caterina Vitelli.

Last, but certainly not least, my deepest gratitude to my parents and my daughters Yasmin and Amber for their constant support and assistance.

ABBREVIATIONS AOM Archives of the Order of Malta NAV Notarial Archives MLN National Library of Malta ACM Archives of the Cathedral of Malta

Opposite Mattia Preti, Leone Strozzi, detail, vault, St John’s CoCathedral, Valletta

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CHRISTIAN DEVOTION AND THE CULT OF SAINTS

EROGAVIT IN PAUPERES1

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Charles Frederick Brocktorff, Inner view of St John’s Co-Cathedral, National Library, Valletta

aints have always had a special place at the centre of Christian devotion since the days of the early Church, as it was believed that saints were able to intercede with God and could be invoked to pray on one’s behalf. The Protestant Reformation of 1517 however, excluded their worship on grounds that they were tainted with paganism and superstition. John Calvin, the French reformer said ‘although art was one of God’s gifts to man, it must be kept out of churches for fear of idolatry’.2 The Protestant reformers likewise condemned the veneration of the Virgin and saints, especially their role as intercessors. This brought a reaction from the Catholic Church known as the Counter-Reformation or the Catholic Reformation.3 The reform of the Catholic Church was headed by the Council of Trent which met on and off for nearly twenty years from 1545, and reaffirmed the basic doctrines that were under attack from Protestants.4 It was in response to challenges to her fundamental doctrines that the Church, seeking every possible means of asserting her spiritual authority, eventually turned to artists. The main objective of the Catholic Reformation was to reassert traditional theology, defending it from whatever quarter it was threatened.

At the final session in 1563, the Council decided that religious imagery would be instrumental in supporting religious teachings, and confirmed the use of images. It specified that episodes from the lives of the saints were to feature prominently since they were effective intercessors with God and because their lives were shining examples of the good works that must be performed by ordinary men and women seeking to earn salvation. Martyrdom scenes, especially those dealing with brutality and unveiled display of truth, were now deemed essential and images of saints should be realistic in interpretation, clear in subject and self explanatory.

Moreover, they should serve as an emotional stimulus to the pious. Truth now called for accuracy even to minute detail and the perimeters were carefully framed to prevent any accusation of idolatry.5

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Mattia Preti AN ANTHOLOGY OF SAINTS AND HEROES

St Francis Xavier 1. ST FRANCIS XAVIER (Fig. 1) 1658 Oil on canvas, 229x183cm St John’s Co-Cathedral Valletta Preti painted this picture of St Francis Xavier for the Chapel of Aragon, Catalonia and Navarre in 1658, while he was in Naples.

The painting was possibly intended to hang closer to the altar than its present position. Fra Martin De Redin, who had been elected Grand Master on 17 August 1657, wrote to Father Marcello Spinelli a Jesuit in Naples, on the 20 March 1658, asking for his advice regarding a painting he wanted to commission depicting St Francis Xavier, and asking him ‘to engage the most famous brush in Naples’. This Jesuit saint had been canonised by Pope Gregory XV in 1622 and had recently been made the patron of Navarre by Pope Alexander VII, who on 14 April 1657 issued a papal decree to this effect. Thus the selection of St Francis Xavier had particular significance for Fra Martin de Redin, not only for the saint’s virtues which the Grand Master wanted to associate with, but also since he had served as prior of Navarre until his

Fig. 1

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election. De Redin also claimed to be a descendant of St Francis, as also stated in his epitaph. Furthermore, the glorification of this missionary saint was symbolic of the Order’s mission to protect Christianity from the infidels. According to the inscription on the frieze in the chapel Fra de Redin had embarked on the embellishment of the chapel in honour of St George before his election to Grand Master. It also states that the chapel, was completed within two years. If this statement is correct then all the paintings within this chapel were completed by 1659.

In May 1658 De Redin, now Grand Master, wrote to Fra Giovanni Brancaccio, the receiver of the Order in Naples, whose memorial tombstone lies in the church, informing him of the painting he had ordered. Brancaccio wrote back on 13 June to inform him that the painting was ready. In August, Brancaccio was instructed to pay Mattia Preti the sum of 100 ducats, with 50 ducats to be paid later for said painting. The Grand Master was very satisfied with the painting and he noted this in a letter dated 27 November to the general of the Jesuits in Naples, also stating that it would be hung in the Conventual Church and celebrated with a pontifical mass soon after, on the feast day of the saint.

St Francis was born in the castle of Xavier, in the Kingdom of Navarre in 1506. He was born to an aristocratic family, but abandoned a life of luxury and devoted his life to missionary service. Together with Ignatius of Loyola, he founded the Society of Jesus and, in the wake of the Reformation, vowed to convert the Eastern world to Christianity. Francis devoted much of his life to missions in Asia – India, Japan and China.

Preti depicts St Francis Xavier with intense spirituality. The Jesuit Saint looks up towards the heavens at a subject outside the picture plane which is only suggested to the viewer. The circumstances indicate a divine calling with the appearance of the symbol of Jesus, it catches his attention and he opens his arms suggesting acceptance. He leans on his pilgrim’s staff in order to steady himself, as he stands on clouds, accompanied by several angels whose attention is also diverted upwards. The scene is washed with a soft light focusing mainly on the facial features. An angel points to the saint and looks out to the viewer while another holds a band with the words SAT EST DOMINE. Another young angel holds a lily, an attribute of the Jesuit missionary and a symbol of purity. St Francis is depicted as a young bearded missionary. He is wearing the Jesuit Order’s cossack, surplice and stole, holding a pilgrim’s staff with a wooden rosary bead hanging from his waist.

The painting’s reflective mood is a feature which Preti often used to interpret a spiritual experience. The rich pigment-laden brush work and attention to texture and finish compare well with the paintings he produced during the mid 1650s. Preti’s use of golden ambers and cobalt blue colours make a subtle and pleasing contrast to the dark hues of the saint’s robes, and the otherwise restricted palette. The painting shows traces of Guercino’s influence, visible in the contrast of the saint’s dark robe against the intense blue sky. It also shows Preti’s interest in Venetian

artists known for their rich texture and opulent use of colour. The painting was restored in 2010 as it was suffering from advanced signs of craquelure.

AOM 1434 , ff. 57-57v, ff.93-93v, f.96, f.118, ff.166v-167, ff.188v189r; AOM 1280, ff.172r-172v; De Dominici 1742-45, p.101; Ferris 1866, pp.134-135; Mariani 1929, pp. 23,48-53,79; Spike 1978, pp.

501-506; Spike 1989, p. 29; 1998, pp. 109-113; Spike 1999, pp.

328-330; Sciberras 2012, pp. 133, 186.

St George 2. ST GEORGE ON HORSEBACK (Fig. 2) c.1659-60 Oil on canvas, altar-piece, 275x207cm St John’s Co-Cathedral Valletta The painting representing St George on horseback is the titular painting of the chapel of Aragon. Bernardo De Dominici wrote in 1742 that Mattia Preti was introduced to the knights with the commission for the altar-piece of St George, during Grand Master Jean Paul Lascaris Castellar’s reign between 1636 and 1657. De Dominici could be assuming this because Preti was knighted in 1641 during this reign. The inscription in the frieze of the chapel does state that the renovation started prior to the election of Grand Master de Redin in 1657, but this possibly refers to the adornment of the chapel walls with carvings. The following correspondence from Grand Master Martin De Redin’s in 1658, seeking an artist for the painting he wanted of St Francis, does not mention Mattia Preti, indicating that he was oblivious of Mattia Preti’s reputation as an artist in Naples. The early historian Ferris also stated that Preti painted this picture to impress and encourage Grand Master Raphael Cotoner, who was elected in 1660, to entrust him with the painting of the vault. The painting is so far undocumented, but stylistic and contextual evidence suggests the period between 1658 and the year 1660. In 1659, Preti is recorded as having travelled to Malta to expedite his elevation to Knight of Grace when he donated a painting of St Catherine to the Italian knights. With the painting of St Francis already hanging in the chapel it could be that during his visit, he was commissioned for the painting of St George. This would make the painting one of the earliest works Mattia Preti produced for the Order, a picture which surely excited the Grand Master and the knights and certainly served to acquire their attention.

The beautifully dramatised depiction of St George, together with the glossy finish and opulent colours, show the Venetian and Emilian blend Preti favoured during his late Neapolitan production of the 1650s. De Dominici describes how Preti

Fig. 2

produced this work with such vaghezza that it was praised as a masterpiece by Luca Giordano, Preti’s number one rival. The painting is polished and carefully executed, the rich pigment is thickly applied with luminous highlights, which recall passages from Guercino’s painting technique. The ample use of blue pigment derived from lapis lazuli, an expensive pigment, reflects his patron’s fine taste. The preparatory ground is thin, made up of burnt sienna and yellow ochre pigments, giving the painting a distinct fine quality, while the medley of opulent colours is evidently of Venetian influence, as is the tempestuous atmosphere of the battle scene that recalls Titian’s late phase. The quality of the figures displays exceptional draughtsmanship, since they are modelled with the use of light and shade with the effective use of highlights. The style of the St George fits well with Preti’s passage to Naples, when he combined the Emilian and Roman schools with Venetian colouring. The composition was slightly modified at some stage. This is vaguely visible under the final pictorial layer which appeared during restoration.

St George was the patron saint of the Aragonese langue and Preti intentionally depicts the saint representing the chivalry of the Aragonese knights. Legend has it that St George came across the city of Silena in Libya which was being terrorised by a dragon.

At first, the people of the city began to feed it two sheep and later humans. The king decreed that the human sacrifice should be chosen by lot. This continued until the king’s daughter was selected. The saddened king kissed his daughter and she was led to the dragon’s lair. Suddenly St George appeared and told the princess to step aside, and with his lance killed the dragon.

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