The Four Passion Canvases and the Eighteenth-Century Oratory of the Holy Crucifix in Senglea

Jonathan Farrugia is a priest and Head of Department of Church History, and

Adjacent to the basilica of Our Lady of Victories in Senglea, one finds the early eighteenth-century oratory dedicated to the Holy Crucifix, where the renowned effigy of the Redentur is kept. However, there is more to the oratory than this statue. Upon entering from its main doorway found in Crucifix Street, the visitor is struck by four large canvases by Senglea-born artist Francesco Vincenzo Zahra depicting four moments from the Passion of Christ: the agony in the garden, the scourging at the pillar, the crowning with thorns, and the falling under the cross. Francesco is not the only Zahra whose work can be appreciated in this oratory; his father, Pietro Paolo, carved all the stonework that can still be seen today.

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 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.