THE MASTERPIECES IN THE CHURCHES OF MALTA
Sante Guido Giuseppe Mantella Photography
Enrico Formica
A commemoration of the fourth centenary of the birth of the Cavalier Calabrese
Published by
Miranda Publishers the publishing division of
Promotion Services Ltd, Sliema, Malta Tel +356 2134 3772/3 e-mail mirandabooks@onvol.net www.mirandabooks.com © 2012, Miranda Publishers, Sliema, Malta All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in, or introduced in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owners and publishers of this book.
Printing
Castelli Bolis Poligrafiche S.p.a. November, 2012 Colour Scanning
Arti Grafiche Martinetto Photography
Enrico Formica English translation
Theresa Vella Design
Maria DeGabriele (Sense – San Paolo Services Ltd) 1st edition ISBN 978-99909-85-47-4
Acknowledgement This book could not have been compiled without the cooperation and, above all, patience of the people whose privilege it is to be the guardians of Mattia Preti’s legacy on canvas, spread out as it is in churches in Malta and Gozo. We thank them for their generous help.
CONTENTS
BIRGU
MATTIA PRETI The Masterpieces in the Churches of Malta
5
VALLETTA St John’s Co-Cathedral THE VAULT
19 23
THE CHAPEL OF THE LANGUE OF ARAGON, CATALONIA AND NAVARRE
33
The Collegiate Church of St Lawrence
145
The Church of St Anne of the Benedictine Monastery of St Scholastica
145
FLORIANA The Church of the Immaculate Conception of Sarria
LIJA The Church of the Assumption, or ‘Tal-Mirakli’
THE CHAPEL OF THE LANGUE OF CASTILLE, LEON AND PORTUGAL
45
THE CHAPEL OF THE LANGUE OF ITALY
53
151
165
LUQA The Church of St Andrew
171
THE CHAPEL OF THE LANGUE OF FRANCE
59
THE CHAPEL OF PHILERMOS
63
THE ORATORY
69
The Church of St Publius, the Grotto and the Collegiate Church of St Paul
179
St Catherine of Alexandria
75
The Chapel of Verdala Palace
191
The Church of All Souls
83
ZURRIEQ
Church of the Jesuit Order, or The Gesù
89
The Monastery Church of St Ursula
97
The Church of St Francis of Assisi
103
The Church of St Augustine
109
RABAT
The Church of St Catherine of Alexandria
197
SLIEMA The Church of Our Lady of Graces
211
GOZO – RABAT
MDINA The Cathedral of St Paul
133
The Church of St Peter in the Benedictine Monastery
139
The Collegiate Church of St George
217
BIBLIOGRAPHY
222
Portrait of Mattia Preti at St John’s Co-Cathedral Museum
4
MATTIA PRETI THE Masterpieces IN the ChurchES OF MALTA
Fra Mattia Preti must be considered as being one of the main
Grand Master Jean de la Cassière (1572–1581) placed the first building
exponents of Italian and European art of the seventeenth century. This
block of the Conventual church. The construction was completed in
was a period that gave rise to various disparate schools of figurative art.
the four years between 1573 and 1577 as documented by one of the
Preti observed and studied the various trends and ultimately developed
two stone inscriptions placed above the main doorway: HUIUS TEMPLI
his own personal pictorial style. His paintings embody a dramatic tension
CA(LENDIS) NO(VEMBRIS) MDLXXIII IACTA SUNT FUNDAMENTA. QUOD
and vivacious flourishes that are in part personal and in part testament to
AUSPICIIS ILL(USTRISSI)MI D. F(RATRIS) IOANNIS LEVESQUE DE LA CASSIERE
previous masters such as Veronese, Tintoretto, Guercino, Lanfranco and
IX CA(LENDAS). IUL(II) MDLXXVII AD SUMMUM FASTIGIUM PERDUCTUM
Poussin. He in turn became a protagonist and interpreter of the crucial
EST. (‘The foundations of this temple which was completed on the ninth
transition to the art of the ‘high baroque’.
day of the month of July [in terms of today’s calendar, 23 June] 1577 under
The widely unanimous recognition of his talent and his burgeoning fame enabled him to establish profitable relationships with the powerful
the auspices of the illustrious Fra Giovanni Leveque de la Cassière, were laid down on the month of November [1st November] 1573’).
personalities and families of that time such as the Barberini, the Rospigliosi,
The massive and austere building, designed by the Maltese architect
the Pamphilj and the Ruffo of Calabria thanks to whom he was made a
Girolamo Cassar follows sixteenth-century tradition with a simple linear
Knight of the military and hospitaller Order of St John of Jerusalem, Cyprus,
structure in the late mannerism of the Roman style with a flat façade
Rhodes and Malta. Preti moved to Malta in 1661 and remained on the
– today featuring the bronze head of Christ the Saviour,2 by Alessandro
Island until his death in 1669. During his stay in Malta he executed a large
Algardi – between two bell towers.
number of paintings for the Order as well as several works for Maltese and Italian churches and numerous works commissioned by lay and
The interior consists of a single nave surmounted by a massive barrel roof without a transept and with absidal endings.3
private collectors.
The internal space consisted of bare-walled side-chapels decorated
Ironically, out of the almost 450 works attributed to the Cavalier
solely by simple stone altars with paintings dedicated to Saints who were
Calabrese, as Preti was known in seventeenth-century Italy, only a few
associated with the Order’s devotion, such as St Catherine of Alexandria,
are reliably dated, and documentation is limited. Similarly rare, if not
St George and St Sebastian.
completely missing, is any documentation regarding his frequent journeys
During the mid-seventeenth century the church underwent further
(Venice, Milan, Florence, Bologna, Cento, Madrid, and Antwerp) as well as
modifications with the purpose of adapting the sobriety of the building
with regard to his interaction with other artists.
towards a more modern baroque style so as to better reflect the prestige
The lengthy biography written in Naples between 1742 and 1745 by Bernardo De Dominici is very confusing. It is replete with errors, wrongly
the that the Hospitaller Order of St John had acquired during the course of the century.
dated annotations and relationships with historical figures whose
One of the first changes dates back to 1645, during the rule of Grand
biographical data is incorrectly dated and in some cases totally wrong as
Master Juan de Lascaris-Castellar (1636–1657) when the Messinese
with dates that are known to be too early or too late.
sculptor Vitale Covati was commissioned to create a new alter in precious
Almost two and a half centuries after the first biography, thanks to the
marble for the chapel of the so-called Madonna of Philermos. The precious
studies conducted by Roberto Longhi, Domenico De Conciliis, Riccardo
icon was originally known as the Madonna of Bethlehem and was already
Lattuada, Giuseppe de Vito, Edoardo Nappi, James Clifton, Federica
in the custodianship of the Knights of the Order before their occupation
Piccirillo and especially the fundamental work of John T. Spike, it is now
of Jerusalem.4
possible to reconstruct with relative accuracy a near-complete biography as well as an exhaustive catalogue raisonnée.
In the years that followed shortly after, the renovation of the interior decorations had an impact on practically all the internal spaces. Amongst these were the Chapel of Philermos, the Chapel of the Langue of Provence
Mattia Preti in Malta
and the Chapel of the Langue of Auvergne.5 Previously, prior to 1656, the
Mattia Preti’s arrival in Malta is strongly connected to the transformation
transformations had most significantly affected the Chapel of the Langue
of the large Conventual church – that ‘holds the specious and ancient title
of Aragon, Catalonia and Navarre, which is dedicated to St George, as
of High Church, ever since the time in Rhodes, and that competes for this
documented by the inscription on the border: SACELLUM HOC QUOD
title with the Metropolitan [Cathedral] church’ – dedicated to St John the
EMINENTISSIMUS AC REVERENDISSIMUS D. F. D. MART[INUS] DE REDIN
Baptist, patron saint of the Knights whose Order originated in the Holy
OLIM PRIOR IN HONOREM D. GEORGIJ M. EXORNANDUM SUSCEPERAT
Land with the first church founded by Pope Pascal II in Jerusalem on the
IDEM NUNC M. M. SUMPTUOSIUS ANNO [MAGIS]TERIJ SUI SECUNDO
15th of February 1113. In 1573, two years after the inauguration of the
PERFICIUNDUR CURAVIT AD MAIOREM DEI GLORIA MDCLVIII, (‘The most
new city founded by Grand Master Jean Parisot de Vallette (1557–1568),
reverend and eminent Fra Don Martin de Redin had started to adorn this
1
2
1
AOM 1953, Chapter XXX, Descrizione della Chiesa Conventuale di San Giovanni Battista di Fra Ottavio Garcin (1760); Scarabelli 2004, pp. 469ss.
Guido –Mantella 2004. Scicluna 1955; Bonello 1956; Debono 2005; Sciberras 2004; Guido –Mantella 2008; Sciberras 2010; De Giorgio 2010. 4 Rossetti 2010. 5 Debono 2005, pp. 26–27; 57–58; Guido –Mantella 2008, p. 457. 3
5
chapel in honour of St George during the time when he was Prior and
complete the decoration of the magistral halls.
he himself when elected Grand Master oversaw its completion during his
Following Caravaggio’s turbulent phase in Malta between 1607 and
second magistral year in a more sumptuous manner for the greater glory
1608, the embellishment project was eventually undertaken with the arrival
of God. 1658’).
in Malta of the Bolognese painter Lionello Spada (1576–1622). Between
Following De Redin’s initiative, the Chapel of Aragon, Catalonia and
1609 and 1610, Spada, who was a student of the Academy of the Carracci,
Navarre became the model and template for all other chapels that had
decorated three halls in the palace: the Assembly Hall, the Ambassadors’
hitherto been bare and unadorned.
Hall and the Pages’ Hall. By means of a large frieze with allegorical figures
Martin de Redin wanted to intervene on the chapel whose altar was
painted in fresco, Spada depicted the pictorial narrative in a didactic style,
decorated with a canvas painting titled St George and the Dragon – a work
representing the history of the Order from its origins to the Great Siege, and
by Francesco Potenzano dating back to 1578–1579 and considered to
in so doing completed the work which had been begun by Perez d’Aleccio
be too old and anachronistic. To do so De Redin sought paintings that
thirty years earlier. This project brought to an end a period of great artistic
went beyond Maltese vernacular of the time by seeking such works in
fervour that was characterized by the commissioning of great works of art
nearby Italy.6 His predecessors in the second half of the sixteenth century
by the Grand Masters and Knights. The next thirty years witnessed a lull in
had taken the same approach when it was decided to embellish the first
this trend until the start of works on the Philermos chapel in 1645. —
buildings which had been completed in the new city of Valletta. This was previously the case with the Hall of the Grand Council in the
Soon after being elected Grand Master in 1658, Martin de Redin
magistral palace when Grand Master Jean de la Cassière (1572–1581) invited
was involved in the finishing works on the Chapel of Aragon, Castille
Matteo Perez d’Aleccio (1547–1616) from Rome to Malta in 1576,7 with
and Navarre and, as his predecessors had done before him, he turned
the commission to work on the creation of the twelve frescos depicting
to Naples. He wrote to Marcello Spinelli, the Jesuit father provincial who
the Great Siege (1565) with allegorical figures in didactic composition
was based in Naples,10 asking for his advice in the matter of a painting
executed in a late mannerist style. The same artist was responsible for the
that he intended to commission to ‘the most qualified painter that lives in
altar pieces in the main churches in Valletta such as St Paul’s shipwreck in
Naples’.11 He wanted to commission a portrait to be placed in the Chapel
Malta that is found in the church of St Paul Shipwrecked, or the Baptism of
of St George that depicted the ‘glorious St Francis Xavier’,12 an illustrious
Christ which used to be housed in the sacristy of the Conventual church
Jesuit father of the Order to which De Redin had special connections that
and is now housed in the Museum of St John’s Co-Cathedral, altarpieces
were well-known through ‘his particular affection for the Order of Jesus ...
that were executed before his departure from Malta in 1581.8 In the
that is known to all the Fathers’.13 Furthermore, the Grand Master boasted
course of a brief phase spent in Malta, the Palermitan artist Francesco
of belonging to the family of the saintly missionary who was born in
Potenzano (1152–1601) had also painted large canvases in a style which
Navarre and canonized in 1622.14 He was so proud of his famous ancestor
was reminiscent of mannerism but with a provincial trait: The Martyrdom
that he had this relationship recorded on his burial monument,15 which
of St Catherine adorned the Chapel of Italy, while St George and the Dragon
he planned on placing in the Chapel of Aragon, Catalonia and Navarre:
was to be found in the Chapel of Aragon, Catalonia and Navarre and is now
MAGNI MAGISTRI DON MARTINI DE REDIN / MAGNI XAVERII OB GENUS
in the museum of the Co-Cathedral.
PROPINQUI [Grand Master Martino de Redin descendant of the family of
9
Grand Master Hugues Loubenx de Verdalle (1581–1595) had instead turned to the late-mannerist Florentine painter Filippo Paladini
De Redin’s intention was therefore to commission a portrait of the
(1544– 1614). Paladini had arrived in Malta in 1589 as he served a penal
Iberian saint under Jesuit supervision during those months when Mattia
sentence as a rower in the galleys of the Grand Duke of Florence, and thus
Preti was completing his paintings on the doors of the city of Naples,
the Grand Master had to negotiate with the Grand Duke Ferdinand de
with ‘the image of the Immaculate Conception with the child, the
Medici for Paladini to remain in Malta, where he stayed until around 1595.
glorious St Januarius and on the right St Francis Xavier and on the left
Paladini executed the fresco paintings in the Palace chapel with the scenes
Santa Rosolea.’16 Furthermore, owing to the importance of this event in
from the Life of John the Baptist as well as the altarpiece Mary and the Child
Preti’s future career, one must remember that the role of supervisor of
Jesus with the Baptist, St Paul and other saints signed PH. P. P–1589, today
the works on the seven gates of Naples was the Jesuit Felice Barberito,
found in the Palace of the Archbishop in Valletta. Paladini also painted the
‘a person of great talent and expertise in matters relating to painting’,17
ceiling frescos in the hall and vestibule of Verdala Palace. This palace is
and who therefore had a close professional relationship with the Calabrian
in Buskett, an inland location close to Rabat, and was used as the Grand
painter. It is thus no surprise that when Grand Master de Redin turned to
Master’s summer residence. He also painted the large Circumcision of Christ
father Spinelli in order to commission a talented and able painter for the
canvas that is to be found in the Jesuits Church in Valletta.
depiction of St Francis Xavier, it was Preti who at the time was working on
In 1605, after Paladini’s departure Grand Master Alof de Wignacourt
such a painting of the Spanish Jesuit Saint on Naples’s city gates under the
(1601–1622) had to once again turn to Florence in seeking an artist to
supervision of Father Barberito, whose name came up.18
6
10
8 9 7
6
the great Xavier].
Sciberras 2009, p. 93. Ganado 1984, p. 127–159; Vella 2006, pp. 56 Ganado 1984, p. 127. Mandarano –Muroni 2008, pp. 205–209.
Spike 1998, p. 109–110. AOM 1434, ff. 57–57v; Spike 1998, pp.109–110. 12 Ibidem. 13 AOM 1434, ff. 188r–189v. 14 Cosma 2008, p. 33. 15 Debono 2005, pp. 39–40. 16 Deliberazioni degli Eletti, 16 June 1656: ASMN, Registro 1410 delle deliberazioni, f. 202v; Spike, 1998, pp. 91–92. 17 ASMN Registro delle deliberazioni 1410, f. 218v; Spike 1998, p. 92. 18 Cosma 2008, p. 32. 11
One must also not underestimate as a factor in this choice the fact
I desired. However since fate has so decreed, not having as much haste
that by 1658, the Calabrian painter had already been a member of
for this painting as I do for the other [St Francis Xavier] I resolve that it be
the Hospitaller Order of St John the Baptist for sixteen years, with the
suspended until further notice’.25
secondary ranking of Knight of Obedience of the priory of Capua.19 This
The dating of the painting, as well as the context within which it was
fact was probably considered when it was decided to give the artist such
executed, have been the subject of a lively critical debate based on artistic
a prestigious commission. By means of the painting depicting St Francis
and historical considerations. Hypotheses on its dating have been based
Xavier, Fra Mattia was re-establishing a link with his brethren in the
on structural changes carried out on the entire chapel between 1660 and
Hospitaller Order through his skill as a painter, his fame and the significant
1661,26 as well as on generic stylistic comparisons relating to works of
intercession of the Jesuit Order.20
1670,27 that place the work to a later date, in relation to the magistry of
A large number of documents bear witness to the various events
two of De Redin’s successors: Grand Master Raphael Cotoner (1660–1663)
surrounding the execution of the painting and its arrival in Malta, although
and his brother Nicolò Cotoner (1663–1680). A more recent and accurate
it seems unusual that the author’s name never appears on any document
iconographic analysis makes it possible to date the work to the period
that deals with the matter.21
of De Redin’s magistry,28 and thus to the time of Preti’s first stay in Malta
In the painting that Preti executed for De Redin, the missionary saint
in 1659.
is depicted as a full-length figure, clothed in dark robes as he turns his
In the first place, the context and close relationship that links the
bearded face as he gazes towards the heavens. The composition suggests
execution of the St Firmin as a companion piece to the St Francis Xavier
an apparition that takes place high amongst the clouds. The work was
must be taken into account. In a more general way, one must also consider
produced with great diligence, as shown by the recent conservation
the historical circumstances that relate to the recognition of both saints
project, which has revealed a cautious execution starting with the choice
as patrons of Navarre and De Redin’s desire to see the creation of both
of materials such as the thick preparatory ground layer up to numerous
works within a single iconographic programme spaced over a few months,
thin brush-strokes that define the minutest details of the rich palette
and consequently prior to the death of the patron that occurred on 6th
where cinnabar reds and lapis lazuli blues dominate. Preti wanted to
February 1660. Bishop Firmin was a great evangelizer who lived around the
prove his talent so as to impress the Grand Master, and his brethren, the
end of the third century. He died a martyr and had been venerated since
Knights of St John. He was very successful, leading to a strong relationship
the twelfth century in his native town of Pamplona. Francis Xavier had
with De Redin based on mutual respect, and which resulted in new and
recently been canonized and had been proclaimed co-patron of Navarre
important commissions for the chapel of Aragon, Catalonia and Navarre
by Pope Alexander VII Chigi on the 14th April 1657. This was the year De
which introduced the exuberance of seventeenth-century baroque art.
Redin was elected Grand Master. It was thus a question of representing the
22
In the summer of 1659 Preti arrived in Malta after accepting the
images of the old patron and the new one for the first time in the Chapel
invitation of Martin de Redin who, around one year earlier, had written
of Aragon, Catalonia and Navarre, and this was not done immediately
to the Jesuit Father General in Rome with reference to the painting of
because of ‘ the oversight of not having mentioned the name of the Bishop
St Francis Xavier, ‘I entrusted the painting of the portrait of St Francis
Saint despite my desire’.
Xavier to a famous brush [artist] in Naples and it has been executed to
The analysis of the compositional scheme of the Bishop Saint too
my great satisfaction.’23 The Grand Master’s role as first contact and
demonstrates a repetition of the device used in St Francis Xavier and
patron for the arrival of the painter on the island is engraved on Preti’s
appears to confirm the link between the two saints from Navarre through
tombstone in St John’s Conventual church with the words: SUB AUSPICIIS
their ideological, religious and celebratory qualities. As seen in the documentary evidence, the St Francis Xavier was originally
EM[IMENTISSIMI] M[AGNI] M[AGISTRI] DE REDIN IN MELITAM VENIT. Within a few months of his arrival in Malta, the painter first executed
intended to be placed to one side of the chapel.29 Given the corresponding
the portrait of St Firmin Bishop, the second patron of the realm of Navarre,
nature of the two paintings it can be deduced that the St Firmin was to be
which was placed on the lateral walls of the chapel and St George and
placed on the opposite wall so that the portraits would face each other.
the Dragon, which replaced Potenzano’s altarpiece in the chapel. From
St Firmin is depicted against dense clouds surrounded by hovering putti
the evidence contained in certain documents it results that in 1659 Preti
in the midst of a grey mass of clouds, and who hold out the symbols of
also painted the lunettes that decorate the underside of the lateral wall
his martyrdom for the Christian faith; his face is turned to the heavens
arches with the stories of St Lawrence: St Lawrence meeting Pope Sixtus II
while his right hand points downwards towards the altar, mirroring the
and The Martyrdom of St Lawrence. The first of these works seems to have
corresponding gesture of the Jesuit saint, thus giving rise to a harmonious
been the portrait of St Firmin Bishop, Patron of Navarre that can be taken
movement within the chapel space. The technical analysis of the painting
as a companion piece to San Francis Xavier. From documentary evidence,
has brought to light new data that confirms 1659 as the most likely date
it seems that by 1658 the Grand Master had already expressed the wish
of execution. Close observations carried out during the preparatory work
to have a portrait of a ‘Bishop Saint’, when he wrote that the commission
for the restoration indicate totally different techniques used between
had not been assigned and was being postponed to a later date. ‘… it
St Francis Xavier and St Firmin. It almost seems as if Preti had little time to
was unfortunate not to have expressed the name of the bishop Saint that
paint the Bishop Saint as indeed was the case during his brief stay in Malta
19
25
20
26
24
ASV, Segretaria dei Brevi Vol. 915, ff. 644r–644v. Cosma 2008, p. 34. 21 Spike 1999, pp. 329,330; Cosma 2008, p. 32. 22 Restored by Giuseppe Mantella in 2010. 23 AOM 1434, ff.118r–189v. 24 Spike 1999, pp. 329–330. The canvas measures 238 × 175 cm.
AOM 1434, ff. 93r–93v; Spike 1978, p. 505. Sciberras 2004, pp. 189–190, note 125. 27 Spike 1999, pp. 329–330. 28 Cosma 2008, pp. 27–40. 29 AOM 1280, ff. 172r–172v.
7
The Papal Bull by which Pope Alexander VII confirmed Mattia Preti as Knight of Grace
8
during 1659, in order to fulfil the request of the Grand Master and thereby
vigorous brush-strokes and few tonal variations. Differences also abound
to complete the ‘diptych’ of the patron saints of Navarre. Observations
in the definition of the two figures. Contrary to the silky smoothness of
carried out by means of an optical microscope reveal that the preparatory
the cloth in St Francis Xavier, whose dark robes takes shape thanks to
ground layer as well as the paint layer are thin, so much so that one can
numerous tonal variations, the light-coloured vestment and golden cape
make out the underlying canvas. The artist used a technique similar to that
in St Firmin contrast shimmeringly against the cloud background in a single
used in mural painting, with which he had previously experimented in Italy.
colour that the artist uses to produce only light and shade with loaded
He used his skill and experience to reproduce the vivacious physiognomy
brushstrokes. Greater attention is paid to the intense portrait of St Firmin
of putti in flight, using models from his known repertoire, in the midst
with his realistically rendered expressive wrinkles and detail brought about
of thick clouds. He applied near-transparent fields of near-transparent
by thick strokes of colour that highlight individual tufts of his beard. In
brushwork on the canvas as well as alternating dark and light areas. The
these areas the consistency of the thickness of the paint layer also varies.
palette is reduced to few pigments: lead white, natural earth colours and
Recent scientific analysis has for the first time yielded an extremely
very diluted sky colour. The accurate particulars in St Francis Xavier were
important detail. Electron microscope observations have revealed that the
accomplished by means of brush-strokes consisting of skilfully toned
preparatory layer on the canvas of St Firmin Bishop is not made up of one
down vivid colours and thin traces that had defined the highly accurate
thick layer of calcium carbonate and drying oils and natural pigments – as
details of the painting of St Francis Xavier – such as seen in the bright flesh
discovered in the Francis Xavier that Preti had executed in Naples – but
tones of the angels and in the drapes of shimmering fabric in vivid tints
a compound made up of globigerina stone (Maltese limestone contains
of lapis lazuli, yellow and red. On the other hand in St Firmin he uses a
minute fossils of algae and sea shells), umber and lead oxide mixed with oil.
uniform field on which mass and volume were built up with rapid and
—
The National Library of Malta, Valletta
Besides the St Firmin Bishop, globigerina stone dust used for the
sources, such as the biography by De Dominici, place the painting between
preparatory layer combined with pigments and oil has also been found
1656–1657 and thus the location would have to be Naples and thus
on other paintings that have recently been studied, such as The Virgin
commissioned by Grand Master Juan de Lascaris-Castellar (1636–1657), De
interceding for the Souls in Purgatory in the Church of All Souls in Valletta
Redin’s predecessor.32 In the second half of the nineteenth century it was
dating to 1659 as proven by a payment document dated 20th November
thought that the work was executed in Naples ‘as a demonstration of his
1659. This is also present in the case of the best known and outstanding
skill as a painter when the decision had to be taken as to his painting the
amongst the first works executed by Preti for Malta: the large painting on
barrel vault of the church of St John’.33 Even more recently researchers have
the altar of the Chapel of the Aragon, Catalonia and Navarre, portraying
theorized that the altar piece was created in Naples between late 1656,34
St George and the Dragon the patron of Aragon, and foremost patron of
and the end of 1658,35 or in the spring of 1659 and later sent to Malta
the Knights, who was especially venerated as a noble warrior engaged
together with the Martyrdom of St Catherine of Alexandria,36 the latter
in defeating Evil and to whom the victorious Crusades in the conquest of
securely executed in Naples together with the ten canvases for the ceiling
Jerusalem were attributed.
of the church of San Pietro a Maiella. Recently a careful iconographic study
30
31
The matter of the St Firmin and the St George, both paintings of
has brought to light elements that instead place the date in summer
uncertain date, are both closely linked to each other for the first time as
1659 during Preti’s first journey to Malta. The background composition,
a result of their date and place of execution. Since documents relating
that depicts St George leading the knights to the conquest of Jerusalem
to the commission are as yet unknown the proposed date for St George
so as to liberate the city from the infidels,37 could be linked to Martin
varies between the second half of the 1650s and 1661. The oldest historical
de Redin’s intention of spurring the west to embark on a new crusade
30
32
31
33
Bosio 1594–1602, Vol. III p. 219. Spampinato 2005, p. 47.
De Dominici (1742–1745), 1840–46, III, pp. 349–350, 353–354. Ferris 1900, p. 63. 34 Buhagiar 1987, p. 91. 35 Debono 2008; Sciberras 2005, p. 30. 36 Sciberras 2010, pp. 126–127; Costanzo 2011, pp. 56–58. 37 Giordano 2005, pp.125–126; Cosma 2008, pp. 35–37.
9
The Nave
18
VALLETTA
St John’s Co-Cathedral THE VAULT THE CHAPEL OF THE LANGUE OF ARAGON, CATALONIA AND NAVARRE THE CHAPEL OF THE LANGUE OF CASTILLE, LEON AND PORTUGAL THE CHAPEL OF THE LANGUE OF ITALY THE CHAPEL OF THE LANGUE OF FRANCE THE CHAPEL OF PHILERMOS THE ORATORY
19
VALLETTA St John’s Co-Cathedral
The Co-Cathedral of St John the Baptist was originally the Conventual
to which the artist himself belonged as a Knight of Grace – which was
church of the Knights of the Sovereign, Military, Hospitaller Order of St John
completed, restored and decorated between 1660 and 1662, the artist
of Jerusalem, Cyprus and Rhodes, and Malta, located at the very centre of
painted the altarpiece of the Mystic Marriage of St Catherine of Alexandria,
the fortified city of Valletta. The church served as the religious headquarters
patron saint of the Italian knights. The painting, which was completed by
of the Knights until 1798, when the Order of St John was ousted from Malta
1670, is characterized by a sophisticated chromatic range and is permeated
by Napoleon. In 2003, the church was entrusted to the Foundation of the
with a diffused light which illuminates the whole scene. In 1659, in addition
Co-Cathedral of St John.
to the above-mentioned paintings of the Chapel of Aragon, Catalunya and
The church foundations were laid in 1573 to the design of the Maltese
Navarre, two more paintings were made for the lunettes of the chapel,
architect Fra Girolamo Cassar and the whole building was completed
representing St Lawrence meeting Pope St Sixtus II on his way to Martyrdom,
within four years. The church interior is made up of a large central nave
and the Martyrdom of St Lawrence. Between 1662 and 1663, for the Chapel
and a series of eight side chapels. After 1604, the chapels were entrusted
of the Langue of Castille, Leon and Portugal, Preti painted the altarpiece
to each of the eight ‘Langues or Nations’ to which the Hospitaller knights
of St James as well as two large lunettes representing St James and the
belonged. The langues represented the geographic origins of the knights
Madonna of the Pillar and St James defeating the Moors at Clavijo. Between
and were symbolically represented by the eight points of the Cross (the
1667 and 1668, Preti completed the Conversion of St Paul for the Chapel of
number also coincides with the spiritual mission of the Order which is
the Langue of France. Finally, in 1669, he executed the lunette representing
based on the eight Beatitudes, taught by Christ in the Sermon on the
the Birth of the Virgin, which was originally placed in the Chapel of the
Mount, according to the Gospel of Matthew).
Madonna of Philermos, on the right hand side of the church, and is today
1
The original building was somewhat sober and sparse in appearance,
located in the passageway that leads to the Sacristy. Furthermore, the large
as befitted a military Order. Towards the mid-seventeenth century, it was
altarpiece in the Chapel of the Langue of Auvergne, representing St Michael
completely transformed with new and elaborate embellishments on the
the Archangel, is an exact copy of the painting by Guido Reni for the Church
Baroque style, with Fra Mattia Preti, the Cavalier Calabrese, acting as the
of Santa Maria della Concezione in Rome, executed in a technique that is
protagonist at the centre of the project for nearly forty years. The interior
identical to that of Preti and acknowledged by scholars to be by his hand.4
surfaces of the walls of the Co-Cathedral appear to be entirely decorated
Between 1680 and 1690, the Oratory of the Beheading of the Baptist
– mainly on the designs of Preti himself – in stone carvings of ornamental
was also completely refurbished: the large rectangular area was built in
motifs and heraldic symbols on the walls. The ground was coloured in
1602, annexed to the right hand wall of the nave of the Conventual church.
paint while the relief sculptures were gilt in thin layers of gold leaf created
It was intended for meetings of knights and for ceremonies of knighthood
by means of hammering and thinning out of the precious metal from
and had earlier been enhanced by the remarkable composition of the
thousands of Hungarian zecchini, the coin that at the time had the highest
Beheading of the Baptist painted by Caravaggio during his brief sojourn in
amount of gold in it.2
Malta between 1607 and 1608.5 For the Oratory, Mattia Preti designed a
The first works by Mattia Preti were commenced in 1658 and were
new, carved gilt ceiling into which were inserted a series of paintings on the
commissioned by Grand Master Martin de Redin (1657–1660) for whom he
Passion of Christ: the paintings in the nave are the Ecce Homo, Christ crowned
completed the paintings for the Chapel of Aragon, Catalunya and Navarre
with Thorns and the Crucifixion. The paintings in the choir are Christ at the
with the portraits of St Francis Xavier and St Firmin, as well as the remarkable
Pillar and the Agony in the Garden. The walls of the Oratory are differently
altarpiece of St George and the Dragon. The renowned artist had already
decorated with a series of paintings of Saints and Blesseds, ten portraits of
executed a number of masterpieces in Rome and Naples in the 1640s and
former knights, heroes and heroines of the Order.
1650s, before creating the magnificent ceiling painting cycle which has
When Fra Mattia Preti died in 1699 at the age of eighty-six years, he
been described as the ‘Sistine Chapel of the Baroque age’, and which he
was buried in the place that best represents his life and his art. This was
executed between 1661 and 1666.3 Painting in the unusual technique of
inscribed in his funerary tombstone in polychrome marble on the floor of
oil on stone, Preti represented the following themes: on the curved apsidal
the Conventual church of St John, to the left hand side of the nave, near
wall, the triumphal scene of the Apotheosis of St John the Baptist, over the
the entrance to the Sacristy.
large barrel vault the Life of the Baptist subdivided into eighteen episodes,
DOM / HIC IACET MAGNUM PICTURAE DECUS / COMMEND(ATOR) FR(A’)
and finally, on the interior façade, the Triumph of the Order of St John. During
MATHIAS PRETI, / QUI POST SUMMOS HONORES, PENICILLO COMPARATOS
the same period in the 1660s, Fra Mattia completed other masterpieces
/ ROMAE, VENETIIS, NEAPOLI / SUB AUSPICIIS EM(INENTISSIMI) M(AGNI)
that were commissioned by knights of the various langues for the purpose
M(AGISTRI) DE REDIN MELITAM VENIT, / UBI AB ORDINE HIEROS(OLYMITANO)
of embellishing their respective chapels: for the Chapel of Italy – the langue
ENCOMIIS ELATUS, / AC INTER EQUITES V(ENERANDAE) L(INGUAE) ITALIAE
1
4
2
5
Scicluna 1955; Cutajar 1993; Sciberras 2004; Guido –Mantella 2008; De Giorgio 2010. Guido –Mantella 2008. 3 Spike 1999, pp. 321–323.
20
Spike 1999, p. 402. Stone 1997; Sciberras-Stone 2006.
The polychrome marble floor, the Nave
EX GRATIA ADLECTUS / HANC ECCLESIAM SINGULARI PICTURA EXORNAVIT
Rome, Venice and Naples, finally arrived in Malta under the patronage
/ SEVERIORIS MOX PIETATIS STUDIO INCENSUS / INGENTEM PECUNIAM
of the most Eminent Grand Master De Redin, when, having joined the
TABULIS QUAESITAM / EROGAVIT IN PAUPERES / RELICTO PICTORIBUS
Hierosolimitan Order and being elected Knight of Grace by the Knights of
EXEMPLO / QUO DISCERENT PINGERE AETERNITATE / AD QUA EVOLAVIT
the Venerable Langue of Italy, he decorated this church with remarkable
NONAGENARIO MINOR QUATUOR ANNIS / TERTIO NON(AS) IANUARI 1699
paintings. Moved by a fervent and pious spirit he was liberal in his charity
/ FRATE CAMILLUS ALBERTINI PRIOR BARULI / AMICO DESIDERATISSIMO
with the poor, thereby setting an example to artists on what it meant to
HOC MONUMENT(UM) / POSUIT.
paint for eternity, to which he arrived four years short of his ninetieth year
[Here lies the pride of the art of painting, the Commander Fra Mattia Preti who after acquiring several honours, thanks to his paint-brush, in
of age, the third day of the None of January 1699. Fra Camillo Albertini, Prior of Barletta, placed this memorial for his dearest friend.]
21
The Apse
22
VALLETTA
St John’s Co-Cathedral THE VAULT
23
24
The Vault: The Life of St John the Baptist
25
Valletta St John’s Co-Cathedral THE VAULT
On 15th September 1661, in the presence of Grand Master Raphael and
While Mattia Preti proceeded with the decoration of the vault, painting one
the Venerable Council, ‘the knight Fra Matthia Preti, of the Venerable Priorate
picture after another on the six archways with the episodes on the Life of the
of Capua, moved by the desire to serve the Religion, offered to paint and gild,
Baptist, on 20th October 1663 Nicolò Cotoner succeeded his recently deceased
at his own expense, the entire vault of our high Conventual church of St John’.
brother, Raphael.
1
To endow the parts with continuity and cohesion, on 3rd March 1663, it was
That same day, the Chancellery of the Order finally ratified the artist’s passage
decided to proceed along the length of the nave with the gilt cornice which
to the rank of Knight of Grace. The plan for the decoration of the vault with the Episodes from the life of
was built in the apse (‘for the large cornice to be continued along the façade of
St John the Baptist from the interior façade to the apse ‘for the embellishment
the main doorway and to encircle the whole Church, and that the remainder
of our high Conventual church’, was given a favourable recommendation
is gilt in the manner of the niche of the high altar of St John, in order that it
by the examining commission on 30th September 1661, affirming that the
all corresponds’10) and to knock down the high part of the interior wall of the
painter would be responsible for his own handiwork, while the Treasury
atrium, to make visible the length of cornice which ran along the side of the
would carry the cost of the gilding, the pigments ‘and all the oil which will be
interior façade in such a way as not to permit any interruption to the gilt band.
necessary, seeing that the painting was to be executed in oil and not in fresco
Also, always in the context of the holistic interventions intended to enhance the
to ensure its longevity’. Furthermore, in order to light the interior space better,
new paintings and the entire building, it was decreed that ‘the windows above
the commission agreed that ‘the window above the main door be widened
the main entrance to the church be raised as high as possible with the required
and raised higher in order to illuminate the Church better’, according to the
ornamentation’,11 – in keeping with the projected plans of the Cavalier Calabrese
suggestions put forward by the painter.
of 1661 – and one set about executing a new balustrade for the balcony above
2
3
Mattia Preti set about the execution of this ambitious cycle of paintings
the entrance passageway.
between October and December 1661, in keeping with the agreed plan,
On the same day, the prodomi had gathered and established a fundamental
even though at the start, some problems surfaced with regard to the carved
intervention to preserve the paintings by Mattia Preti which had already been
decoration of the stone arches, which slowed down the progress of the
executed on the vault of the Conventual church: in fact it had been decided ‘that
work.4 Only on 19th December in fact were the stone-carvers Pietro Burlo and
an order from Flanders of a large quantity of lead in thick sheets, in order to cover
Domenico Gambin engaged to ‘carve the six arches, [...] the twelve windows,
the roof of the vault to prevent the penetration of damp which is estimated to
executed in an horizontally oval shape in the said Church, which sculpture has
be needed for the conservation of the painting’.12
to be finished according to the model, which will be given to him by the knight Matthia, painter of the said Church’.
5
The sculptor of Florentine origin, Vitale Covati, who had moved to Messina and later was based in Malta around 1665,13 was entrusted with the
A first stage in the decoration of St John which had been initiated on the
responsibility of executing forty-five balustrades in carved stone. About one
curved wall of the concave apse was brought to a conclusion by 2nd January
year was to pass for the definitive conclusion of the intervention to complete
1662, when Mattia Preti proudly declared that the Grand Master, who had gone
the interior façade which was intended to support the large painting with the
to St John’s to examine the oeuvre, ‘in the middle of the Church, in front of all
Triumph of the Religion as by then the decoration of the large painted arches
those present, presented me with a chain and cross, to the value of six hundred
was nearing completion.
6
On 8th July 1666 in fact ‘His Eminence and the Venerable Council
scudi, stating that he would remain obliged to me’.7 In the Spring of 1663, work on the painted decoration continued, even
unanimously voted that the large window above the main door into the
though Preti declared his bitterness at the difficulty with receiving the pensions
Church of St John would be executed to the design shown to the Venerable
to which he was entitled: ‘it’s already two years since I started to work hard for
Commissioners’,14 with the stipulation immediately after the contract with
the Church of St John and for His Eminence and I have not had any sign [...] in
the sculptor and stone carver from Senglea Domenico Gambin, who took
the belief that the applause for my oeuvre would suffice’.8 Shortly after, on 17th
over the carving ‘in keeping with the requests of Sir Knight Fra Matthias Preti
June of the same year, the painter obtained a great sign of respect for his work
to complement the painting on the ceiling of the same Church. The same
on the part of the Knights and, besides the promise of some new annuities, he
tradesman also takes on the task of dismantling the entire façade of the internal
was given a ‘Cross and gold chain to the value of around three hundred scudi’.9
wall of the said door, from the balustrade down’.15 More than the window, it had
1
AOM 260, f. 106v. AOM 260, ff. 108–109. 3 Ibidem. 4 Archive of the Ruffo Family, Sicily, 17 December 1661. 5 NAV, Notary M. Ralli, R412/26 (1661–63), ff. 90–91; Debono 2005, pp. 66–67. 6 De Dominici 1742–54, p. 355. 7 De Dominici 1742–54, p. 355. 8 Archive of the Ruffo Family, Sicily, 27 March 1663. 9 AOM, 260 , ff. 159v–160r. 2
26
10
AOM 261, ff. 16v–17r. AOM 261, ff. 16v–17r. 12 AOM 261,f.17r. 13 NAV Notary Aloisio Dello Re R. 227/16 1665, ff. 30r–30v–31r (3 November 1665). 14 AOM 261, f. 53r (8 July 1666). 15 NAV Notary A. Dello Re, R. 227/16 (1665–1667), ff. 153r–153v–154r (19 August 1666). 11
The Glory of God the Father
also been agreed to change the entire architectonic ensemble of the entrance
allegorical composition on the larger part of the wall, on the lower part he set
by pulling down the wall which held up the base of the passage between
about the finishes to the new front of the entrance.18
the two church towers located above the entrance and transforming it into a
On 20th December 1666 Preti finished the paintings on the interior façade,
cantilevered balcony over large corbels. Even though this is not spelt out in
thus his oeuvre was ‘concluded to the entire satisfaction of His Eminence, the
archival sources, it is evident that Preti had a determining role in the architectural
Venerable Council and general approval of the whole Convent’. The event was
modifications from the first designs which he himself had devised: once the
concluded with the decision by the Treasury to favour the artist with ‘a gift to
entrance wall was dismantled, the entire area facing the interior façade would
the value of one thousand scudi in precious stones, or in any way which pleased
have appeared lighter with the elimination of the bulky and massive closed
the artist best’.19
16
wall which appeared to lean over the entrance and with the completion of
The vastness of the wall surface and the complexity of the subject which was
the hanging balcony which would have given a lighter appearance to the new
depicted, enlivened by dozens of personages, makes the speed with which the
ensemble,17 thereby creating a perfect setting for the painting which the painter
Cavalier Calabrese concluded the final part of the mural decoration in St John’s,
was about to execute over the wall above. At this point Preti could undertake
all the more astonishing, by painting the entire wall in under three months; with
the concluding part of his project, giving shape to the large figures which were
the completion of the interior façade, the designs for the Conventual church
to be designed on the interior façade.
of St John which were presented to the Council of the Order in 1661 were
In the following month, while Fra Mattia rapidly completed the large
definitively executed within five years of works.20
18 16
Bonello 1970, p. 460. AOM 261, f. 58r (16 October 1666).
17
NAV Notary A. Dello Re, R. 227/16 (1665–1667), ff. 153r–153v: annotations added on 18 February 1667. AOM 261, f. 61. 20 Baldinucci 1694 (ed. 1847, pp.572–573); Pascoli 1736, II, pp. 108–109. 19
27
The Baptism of Christ
The Apotheosis of the Baptist The concave apse is the setting for the Apotheosis of the Baptist which
musical angels that emerge around the frame at the lower end. The winged
presents the climax of the pictorial narrative of the mural decoration,
coloured figures accompany the handing over of the banner to the Baptist
although the painting was the first to be executed: ‘Preti started to design
with lutes, violas, trumpets, cornets and harps – which Preti had already
the tribuna [rostrum] of St John, which included the Holy Trinity in a glory
depicted in the choir of the church of San Biagio in Modena ten years
of beautiful angels who attend upon the Eternal Father seated in majesty
earlier – are certainly inspired by the decoration of the Oratory of Santa
and who extends the banner of the Hierosolimitan Hospitaller Order to
Silvia in the complex of San Gregorio al Celio in Rome, where identical
St John who kneels before him.’21
musical angels, similarly spread beyond an illusionary curtain at the base
The insubstantial space of the heavens is taken up by a corporeal
The entire decorative cycle was executed by Preti using the technique
highlight the large figures of the protagonists: the devout Baptist on one
of oil painting and applying it directly to the porous surface of stone
knee is shown to the heavenly Father through the mediating figure of
which had been previously treated with oil. Over the centuries, the state
Christ in diffused light, radiating the ethereal presence of the Holy Spirit
of preservation of the mural paintings was partly compromised by the
at the vortex of the composition. The ‘beautiful angels who attend’ as
presence of water infiltrations (particularly in the area of the apse) and
described by De Dominici take on a fundamental purpose of completing
by the hydroscopic quality of the stone itself. Between 1868 and 1874,
the composition. Beyond the large angel bearing the banner and the putti
in order to remedy the situation caused by the widespread whitening
carrying the symbols – the cross and the lamb – of St John which are an
which disturbed the legibility of the compositions, Ignazio Cortis, a
essential element in the narrative, in fact, the large presence of angels
pupil of Tommaso Minardi, intervened on the entire painted cycle, with
imparts to the ensemble an air of suspended lightness that dissolves the
extensive overpainting which covered Mattia Preti’s original brushstrokes.
solemnity of the represented moment into a joyful choral presence. The
The incongruous additions were removed between 1959 and 1962 in the
air of serenity that is imparted by the playful putti which peep out of the
course of a restoration project undertaken by ICR, under the direction of
sheets of clouds is further illusorily pervaded by celestial notes played by
Cesare Brandi.22
21
22
De Dominici 1742–54, pp. 355–356.
28
of the concave apse, were depicted by Guido Reni between 1608 and 1609.
mass of clouds that provides a material background against which to
Spike 1999, pp. 319–321; Guido –Mantella 2011
St John preaching in the Desert
The Life of the Baptist Executed according to the designs that had been proposed by Preti, the
St Elizabeth as the protagonist. In the third arched vault the central scene
decoration of the vault of St John’s is expressed in one complex narrative
is kept for The Glory of God the Father who, encircled by rows of angels,
cycle which presents the history of the Baptist divided in eighteen episodes
becomes the fulcrum of the entire pictorial narration, witnessing the
with three different scenes painted in each of the arched sections.
events to which the Forerunner of Christ is the protagonist. The figures that
The narrative starts in the section adjacent to the entrance to the
occupy the two lateral scenes are placed in rarefied natural surroundings in
church, with pictures that depict the protagonists Elizabeth and Zacharias,
which the Preaching in the Desert is seen to unfold, as well as the moment
parents of the forerunner of Christ. The first series of paintings in fact depict
of The Baptism of Christ.
the moment of The Prophecy of Zacharias in the Temple of Jerusalem,
The pictorial narrative takes a dramatic turn in the following series of
with Archangel Gabriel who announces the imminent birth of a son to
paintings that open with St John being interrogated by the priests and
the elderly priest; in the scene at the centre is the representation of The
Levites sent by Herod to find out who he was; the response is seen in
Visitation with the meeting between Elizabeth and Mary; at the opposite
the cartouche held up by an angel in flight who bears the answer of the
end is the painting of The Birth of the Baptist.
Baptist: ‘Non ego sum Christus’, I am not the Christ. The central scene instead
In the following series of compositions the figure of St John is depicted
depicts the moment in which, paying the Tribute to the Soldier, John enters
at the extremity of the arched vault, showing the Baptist who, in the act
Jerusalem. There follows the episode of The Arrest of St John, captured by
of preaching the Coming of the Messiah, recognises Christ – depicted in
the king’s soldiers in the midst of a crowd, depicted at the extremity of the
the background – and announces it to the bystanders by pronouncing
fourth arch.
the words ‘Ecce Agnus Dei’, Here is the Lamb of God; the symmetrical
Events are precipitated and the image of the Baptist who reproves
scene opposite instead shows John in the Desert surrounded by a natural
Herod for his immoral behaviour, standing up to the enthroned sovereign
landscape while living a life of penitence and prayer through meditation
as well as that of the Imprisonment, together flank the central composition
and isolation, accompanied only by angelic presences. Several angels
which foretells the end of the Life, with the depiction of Salome with John’s
enliven also the scene depicted at the centre of the arch which foregrounds
Head on a silver platter.
29
The Allegory of the Order
30
The preamble to the tragic ending is represented in the last arch
school, more specifically as seen in the paintings of Paolo Veronese (for
depicting the moments which immediately precede, starting with Herod’s
example, the large canvas painting The Banquet in the House of Levy,
Banquet which shows the Dance of Salome; at the opposite end, the
executed for the Dominican convent of Saints John and Paul, today in the
instance of the Beheading of the Saint is depicted. At the centre a Concert
Galleria dell’Accademia in Venice) which are the prototypes for large-format
of Angels sings the glory of the realization of the divine will and the sacrifice
airy compositions which are circumscribed by classical architectural wings
of the Baptist.
placed at oblique angles.
In all the vault arches, Fra Mattia depicted large figures which stand out
All the narratives and the personages depicted on the vault are actually
against the sky and architectonic views, depicted boldly in sotto in su, as
compressed within a painted architectural frame which is articulated with
they would appear from below, with carefully studied compositions which
bulky arches and ashlar surfaces, balustrades and ledges, large telamones
focus on foregrounded scenes. The large surfaces of the open backgrounds,
and carved reliefs in the monochromatic texture of illusionary grey stone,
which appear to open out from the point of view at ground level, recall
which cause the colourful scenes to stand out prominently. Even the
the grand paintings depicting impressive scenographies of the Venetian
diffused light and pure colours are linked to the Venetian-Emilian school,
88
VALLETTA
The Church of the Jesuit Order, or The Ges첫
Left: The Liberation of St Peter
89
90
The Church of the Jesuit Order, or The Ges첫
91
VALLETTA The Church of the Jesuit Order, or The Gesù
In 1592, a papal brief sent by Pope Clement VIII Aldobrandini established
Jesuits took on the role of eminent spiritual leaders in European courts,
the institution of a Jesuit college in Malta. Part of the new institution, which
as counsellors and confessors to catholic sovereigns, as well as influential
had been established in the city of Valletta, was the Church of the Gesu’,
orators amongst the wider masses. Their authority came to represent an
built between 1592 and 1609 to the design of the Jesuit architect from the
obstacle to attainment of monarchical Absolutism and to the claims of
1
Abruzzo region, Giuseppe Valeriani. On 12th September 1634 the original
autonomy by regional dioceses. The situation initially led to the expulsion
building was seriously damaged by a deadly explosion in the gunpowder
of the Society of Jesus from Portugal in 1759, then to the Papal Bull issued
depot of the Order of St John, that caused extensive destruction and led
by Pope Clement XIV who, ostensibly to keep the peace within the Church,
to around twenty deaths in the surrounding vicinity.3 The location of the
decreed the dissolution of the Order that had been founded by Ignatius
gunpowder refinery was in the so-called ‘Polverista quarter’, a block that
of Loyola. In 1768, Grand Master Manuel Pinto de Fonseca (1741–1773),
was originally planned for the area taken by the Auberge of the Langue
similarly to what was happening in the principal kingdoms of Catholic
of England, surrounded by St Paul Street, St Christopher Street, Merchants
Europe, expelled the Jesuits from Malta. They were thus constrained to
Street and St Dominic Street, that is adjacent to the Jesuit College complex
relinquish their church and the Collegium Melitense in Merchants Street.
of buildings. The church was almost completely destroyed, and was finally
The following year, in 1769, the college became the seat of the Pubblica
restored around 1637, to the design of the Tuscan architect Francesco
Università di Studi Generali, the University that was established by decree
Buonamici, to whom the new dome and monumental façade has been
of Grand Master Manuel Pinto de Fonseca.
2
attributed. The church was built on a longitudinal plane with a large nave
The second chapel to the left of the church, dedicated to ‘San Pietro
and five large chapels at its sides and an imposing transept. The inclusion of
ad Vincula [was entrusted] to Pietro Ronelli [sic] and Aloisia Massa, on 25th
a high attic with large windows along the vaulted nave imbued the interior
April 1662’.4 The wealthy Maltese goldsmith and his wife resided in the
of the new church with bright daylight.
vicinity of the College, in a palazzo on Merchants Street (today bearing door
In the course of the second half of the eighteenth century, the 1
Pecchiai 1938, pp. 140–141. De Lucca–Procida 1995, pp. 384–385. 3 Dal Pozzo 1703, p. 828; Denaro 1962, p. 52.
number 167) at crossroads with St Christopher Street, and on which one 4
Ferris 1866, p. 192
2
St Peter and St Paul led to Martyrdom.
92
can still see the coat-of-arms marked with the initials of both their names.
of the Martyrdom of St Peter, as he is tied to the cross head to the ground,
They turned the side-chapel into their family chapel, intended as the burial
and hoisted with difficulty by the executioners. In both instances, the
site of their mortal remains5. The new title-holders of the chapel of St Peter
composition is expressed along parallel planes where the foreground is
in Vinculis turned to Mattia Preti, who had moved his residence to Malta only
defined by an element (a person or object, an ancient ruin or archaeological
a few months earlier, commissioning him to execute a cycle of paintings
finding) that appears to protrude into real space, the middle ground
that depicted the last episodes of the life of the saint. The Cavalier Calabrese
where the main narrative takes place, and finally the background where
emulated the pictorial decoration of the richly-embellished chapels of
bystanders watch the spectacle as it unfolds. This is a similar schema, with
the Conventual church, by executing three large canvas paintings that
a different narrative, to that of the lunettes in 1659 executed by Mattia Preti
enriched the Rosselli chapel with real masterpieces6.
for the Chapel of the Langue of Aragon, Catalonia and Navarre, dedicated
The altarpiece represented The Liberation of St Peter, depicting the saint
to the figure of St Lawrence, that therefore preceded by a few years the
as he escapes from prison, freed from chains and following the angel sent
paintings executed for the Chapel of St Peter in Vinculis in the Jesuits’
by the Lord, while the soldier on guard lies asleep in the foreground; the
Church. As a rare instance of a private commission in the extraordinary
large figures dominate the composition, illuminated by a raking light that
number of works executed by Preti during his Maltese period, the paintings
creates sharp contrasts on their faces, while the background remains in
executed for the Rosselli contain little theatricality; in this instance, in fact,
the thick darkness of the night. On the side walls of the chapel, one finds
the compositions of the Petrine cycle appear to be very simple, and assume
two large lunettes that represent the last days of the saint: one lunette
a highly didactic and commemorative quality. The wonderful complexity of
recreates the dramatic moment of the encounter between St Peter and
the ‘baroque invention’ seen in the more famous oeuvre of fra Mattia Preti is
St Paul led to Martyrdom, and the brief exchange of looks rudely interrupted
here replaced by a sincere, devout and emotional hagiographic depiction
by the executioners taking them to their final torment. The pictorial
of the Prince of the Apostles.
narrative continues in the opposite lunette that represents the moment 5
ANV, Notarial deed of the Notary Giacinto Cauchi in Valletta on 24 June 1682; Denaro 1958, p. 168. 6 Spike 1999, pp. 305–306.
The Martyrdom of St Peter
93
Detail of St Peter and St Paul led to Martyrdom
94
Detail of The Liberation of St Peter
95