Book traces church paintings' authors

It is always a pleasure meeting those who, apart from organising the external manifestations during village feasts, also look after the artefacts and decorations inside the church.

The rivalry between one parish and another often led in the past to the commissioning of works of art that adorn the various temples today. Nowadays, there is also stress on restoration and conservation and this idea is slowly but surely taking root.

The treasures inside churches that accumulated over hundreds of years are awesome, both in terms of quality and also provenance.

Which brings me to the newly published book by PIN, L-Arti Fil-Knejjes Minn Mitt Pittur Malti - which liberally translated means art in churches by 100 Maltese painters, researched and authored by Guzeppi Theuma.

The author does not only refer to the more recent, more well-known painters but also to others about whom little is known.

He starts off with Giovanni Maria Abela, one of the earliest known masters in this genre and whose works date back to the late 16th century.

There are instances in the book where Mr Theuma notes that very little detail is available about several artists and their work. A fact which points to the extremely important need for church administrators to record and note not only the names of the benefactors but also as many details as possible, including dates, cost of purchase, duration by artist to finish the work, so that future generations will be able to trace their provenance without toiling unnecessarily and avoiding wrong attributions.

The author sticks to Maltese artists, purposely leaving out illustrious masters such as Caravaggio and Mattia Preti, to mention just two. He does this in order to underscore the richness of the intrinsically local heritage.

Visitors to churches are often spellbound by particular paintings and this new publication should help them pinpoint the artists who painted them. L-Arti Fil-Knejjes Minn Mitt Pittur Malti reproduces 260 paintings and features a list of over 2,200 works. The top names include Willie Apap, Emvin Cremona, Raymond Pitré, Esprit Barthet and Giuseppe Calí. The publication can be very handy for those interested in planning a trail based on several of the artists mentioned in the book, either for art lovers or for cultural tourists.

L-Arti Fil-Knejjes Minn Mitt Pittur Malti makes an extremely fitting companion to the voluminous series Tezori fil-Knejjes Maltin -Treasures in Maltese Churches, also published by PIN. The book sells for Lm16 from Media Link.Communications, Triq Herbert Ganado, Pietà and from bookshops.