I enjoyed reading the feature on the Candia Crucifix venerated at Cospicua collegiate parish church (The Sunday Times, February 20).

I am sure that there are numerous other crucifixes around Malta and Gozo having 'miraculous powers' attributed to them or else have particular artistic and/or devotional value which make them more popular than others. However there are others whose origin gets lost in the mists of time.

A case in point is the wooden crucifix at Tarxien parish church. This crucifix is venerated in the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, commonly known as 'the Chapel of the Crucifix'.

Unfortunately research has not yielded any result regarding the artist of the Tarxien crucifix. Lately we got to know from Dr Keith Sciberras that the sculptor of Our Lady of the Rosary venerated in Tarxien was Gio Maria Saliba; however the sculptor of the crucifix is still unknown.

Traditionally this wooden sculpture has been attributed to Melchiorre Gafà or at least to his school. The late Tarxien artist Rafel Bonnici Calì made this attribution in his contribution to Il-Knisja Parrokjali ta' Óal Tarxien compiled by Mgr Vincent Borg (1973). However, as far as I know, no one else has made this attribution!

Other sculptures have been attributed to Gafà - mostly on the strength of oral tradition - but such attributions lack evidence. Since Gafà died young and in view of the lack of relevant documentation, one should pay particular attention when attributing works to artists, and to Gafà in particular.

Hence we still cannot include the Tarxien crucifix among Gafà's works with any certainty.

As an art lover, particularly of the Roman Baroque period, I think it would be beneficial for Malta's artistic history if such works of art are given the necessary attention and studied carefully in the hope that one day some documentation may be found to shed more light on the author of these valuable pieces.

Lately a number of restoration projects have been undertaken in Tarxien. Last year the titular statue of the Annunciation of Our Lady (Alessandro Farrugia, 1829) was restored. We have seen other projects too, including the repair of the church ceiling and the restoration of the nine crystal chandeliers used by the parish church during festa week.

The parish has now embarked on another ambitious project, the restoration of the Calì painting which adorns the church choir. Another project in our locality is the BOV-sponsored restoration of the Tarxien Temples.

While these projects are very important in preserving our heritage, one should never disregard other works of art which likewise need attention and possibly intervention.

I therefore make an appeal for the preservation of the Tarxien crucifix, which may also lead us to find out who the artist was.

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