Two centuries apart, two break-through presentation pieces by two iconic artists, both soliciting future commissions, book-end five new galleries opened by MUŻA.
When Mattia Preti arrived in Malta in the early 1650s, he brought along with him a painting of the 'The Martyrdom of St. Catherine of Alexandria'. Various art historians hypothetically link this to the superb canvas in the national collection, which an X-Ray interpretation reveals is an overpainting of an earlier martyrdom of St. Paul. Why the change in subject? Preti, who was born in Taverna in southern Italy, required an entry ticket to the Order of St. John, which he viewed as his fast track to nobility. St. Catherine happened to be the patron saint of the Auberge d'Italie, so it was logical that Mattia would first knock on the door of his own nationality.
The painting in the bold movements and vivid colours of Baroque Triumphalism must have impressed because two years later, Preti settled in Malta, where he lived until his death 40 years later. In the meantime, he established a flourishing and busy bottega and was promoted to the rank of 'Knight of Grace' in exchange for his free output at St. John's Co-Cathedral.
In 1867, another promising painter on the threshold of opportunity decided to capture a moment of nostalgic nationalistic sentiment for an exhibition held at the Grandmaster's Palace in Valletta. Depicting one of the turning points in the Great Siege, Giuseppe Calì's romanticised 'Death of Dragut' was painted in the hope it would be purchased to remain at the Palace, which indeed it was.
Nicknamed the 'devil of the brush' in his day, the Maltese Calì faced stiff competition from Italian artists, who, although anachronistic in their style, were frequently preferred by local patrons. Often having to lower his price; nevertheless, the prolific painter was able to carve a niche for himself, earning many church commissions in the process.
'Mattia Preti: An Italian Artist in Malta' and 'Giuseppe Cali' and Colonial Ambitions' begin and conclude a walkway that forms an extension to the European and Empire narratives within MUŻA. The new galleries are housed in what was the 'Camerone' of the Auberge, and the challenge was to maximise the space at hand. An intermediate level bridge was therefore constructed, which doubles up as a viewing platform for the Preti hall below, and functions as both gallery and 'Piano Nobile' standing in for the first floor of a palace. It also serves as a transit between the previous gallery 'Style for Status' and the penultimate 'Entertaining Culture.'
'Art is mainly a reflection of the society that produces it,' Kenneth Cassar, Senior Curator for Ethnography and the Arts, points out. French portrait artist Antoine Favray's 'The Visit' is exhibited in a centerpiece vetrine with furniture pieces, silverware, and paintings of the period, opening a window on the domestic life of the upper echelons of 18th-century Maltese society. Viewed in context, Favray's preparatory sketches are on display for the first time, exhibited together with contemporary Maltese artists Francesco Zahra, Gian Nicola Buhagiar, and Giuseppe Grech, who made a name for himself overseas despite his short lifespan.
Onwards, 'A Noble Space' features glassware, porcelain crockery, majolica floor tiles, intricate marquetry, and other decorative arts alongside portraits and busts of grandmasters, knights, and bailiffs, many of whom commissioned and generated this affluence. "The idea is to rotate many of the pieces we have in the permanent collection with paintings and objects d'art in the reserve collection to increase accessibility," Cassar adds.
At the other end of the footway, a rare late 18th-century square piano, paintings depicting opera, and 19th-century fashion by Charles Allingham and other neo-classical soft furnishings recreate a music-room in the Empire narrative. The particular room was a domestic tradition adopted when Malta was a fortress-colony of the British Empire.
In the fifth gallery, Lazzaro Pisani's 1885 'Death of Abel' exhibited in the Colonial and Indian Exhibition of 1886, a certificate in appreciation of Lace Making and a gold filigree pouch reflect Malta's participation in the great World Expos at the Crystal Palace, in Paris and elsewhere. "In effect, this was the 'globalisation' of the epoch and allowed Maltese artists and artisans to expose their work on an international level," Cassar concludes.
This project is part-financed by the European Union under the European Regional Development Fund – European Structural and Investment Funds 2014-2020
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