In a May 1665 letter, the Order of St John's Ambassador in Rome wrote that the great Gian Lorenzo Bernini was heard saying, on more than one occasion, that a young Maltese sculptor could "have surpassed him in his profession". The Maltese sculptor to whom Bernini was referring was most certainly Melchiorre Cafà (1636-1667). The Order had been trying to secure the services of Bernini to carry out the sculptural group of the Baptism of Christ for its Conventual Church of St John's in Valletta. This accolade by Bernini speaks volumes for the artistic standing of the 17th century Maltese Baroque sculptor.
Melchiorre Cafà, brother of Malta's leading 17th century architect, Lorenzo, has certainly placed Maltese art on the international map and his works can be admired in museums in New York, Rome, St Petersburg, Boston, Berlin, to mention but a few. He was also commissioned to carry out important works in churches and prominence is accorded to him in published concise histories of European sculpture. All this testifies to his standing as an important exponent of the Roman Baroque.
It is fitting, therefore, that a volume, comprising well-researched chapters on various aspects of his work, has been produced. The volume, edited by Dr Keith Sciberras, History of Art academic at the University of Malta, is impressive in terms of the range of rigorous scholarly contributions in English and Italian (each accompanied by detailed annotations), the quality of illustrations provided and the details concerning Cafà's life, commissions and œuvre. Furthermore, the volume is concluded with a list, in alphabetical order, of practically all known works by Cafà, or attributed to him. These are classified as autographed works, casts, casts after Cafà and probable or improbable attributions. Each entry is accompanied by a black and white illustration of the work in question.
Readers will wonder why scholars insist on using the surname Cafà instead of the well known Maltese surname Gafà. His family's surname in Malta was Gafà but, in Rome, the artist's surname was corrupted to Cafà or Caffà and he signed his name, in two of his works, Melchiorre Cafà Melitensis (Sciberras' introductory chapter, p. 1). This is how I recall having seen his name appear on the back of Pope Alexander VII's bust (bronze cast) at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Some of Cafà's works betray the influence of Bernini, the major exponent of 17th century Roman Baroque sculpture. This influence is strongly felt in the Glory of St Catherine of Siena which, as several contributors to the volume point out, captures the spirit of the Neapolitan born master's Ecstasy of St Theresa at Santa Maria delle Vittorie. As Sciberras explains, however, Cafà's early works, including the well known wooden processional statues in Malta, those of St Paul (Church of St Paul Shipwrecked, Valletta) and of Our Lady of the Rosary (Dominican Church, Rabat), are in the Baroque style associated with Bernini's great rival, Alessandro Algardi, a few of whose works can be found on the island.
One other work that is given prominence in this book, and which can be found at the National Museum of Fine Arts in Valletta, is the bozzetto of St Thomas of Villanova.
The dynamic quality of this excellent piece of Baroque sculpture is enhanced by the somewhat agitated folds of the drapery and the use of the serpentina in the figure of the female beggar. This terracotta model was carried out in preparation for the marble group at the church of St Agostino, close to Piazza Navona, a marble group that was completed, after Cafà's untimely death at the age of 31, by Ercole Ferrata in whose bottega the Vittoriosa sculptor worked. Ferrata finished a number of sculptures on which Cafà had been working before his death, including the Martyrdom of St Eustace in Sant' Agnese in Agone (the church designed by Francesco Borromini, in Piazza Navona, Rome) and the statue of St Paul in St Paul's Grotto, Rabat. The statue at St Paul's Grotto constitutes the subject of an excellent contribution to this volume penned by Canon John Azzopardi. Furthermore, as Jennifer Montagu reveals, in her splendid essay on Cafà's models in the Ferrata bottega, Ercole Ferrata relied on his assistants, including Cafà, to make "models to give him ideas"; he "would then correct the best of these to conform to his own style." Cafà, for his part, needed Ferrata's assistance "in the slow business of carving marble".
The clay modelling technique adopted by Cafà is the subject of a lengthy, detailed and very instructive piece by Tony Sigel that rounds off a volume that also includes an overview of the critical reception of Cafà works in publications in Italy and elsewhere (Maria Giulia Barberini), an account of Cafà's seven-year period in Rome (Elena Bianca di Gioia) and a very short piece focusing on the artist as he features in the historical archives of Rome's St Luke Academy (Angela Cipriani).
This book is a boon for Melitensia readers, art lovers and anyone who takes pride in the international achievements of Maltese people. Naturally, as is often the case with edited compendia of essays focusing on the same person, there tends to be a lot of repetition, throughout the volume, with respect to biographical background. This is understandable and probably inevitable.
We perhaps tend to use the word "genius" rather loosely on these islands, but this book certainly pays due homage to one of the very few artists of truly international calibre that the country has ever produced. Alas, this homage has hitherto been denied to the artist at his birthplace, the maritime city of Vittoriosa. A proper tribute to this remarkable sculptor is overdue in this locality and should entail much more than simply naming a street in his honour.
• Peter Mayo is Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education, University of Malta, and the author of The National Museum of Fine Arts (1997) published by Midsea Books.
• A review copy of this title was provided by the publisher.
Melchiorre Cafà, brother of Malta's leading 17th century architect, Lorenzo, has certainly placed Maltese art on the international map and his works can be admired in museums in New York, Rome, St Petersburg, Boston, Berlin, to mention but a few. He was also commissioned to carry out important works in churches and prominence is accorded to him in published concise histories of European sculpture. All this testifies to his standing as an important exponent of the Roman Baroque.
It is fitting, therefore, that a volume, comprising well-researched chapters on various aspects of his work, has been produced. The volume, edited by Dr Keith Sciberras, History of Art academic at the University of Malta, is impressive in terms of the range of rigorous scholarly contributions in English and Italian (each accompanied by detailed annotations), the quality of illustrations provided and the details concerning Cafà's life, commissions and œuvre. Furthermore, the volume is concluded with a list, in alphabetical order, of practically all known works by Cafà, or attributed to him. These are classified as autographed works, casts, casts after Cafà and probable or improbable attributions. Each entry is accompanied by a black and white illustration of the work in question.
Readers will wonder why scholars insist on using the surname Cafà instead of the well known Maltese surname Gafà. His family's surname in Malta was Gafà but, in Rome, the artist's surname was corrupted to Cafà or Caffà and he signed his name, in two of his works, Melchiorre Cafà Melitensis (Sciberras' introductory chapter, p. 1). This is how I recall having seen his name appear on the back of Pope Alexander VII's bust (bronze cast) at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Some of Cafà's works betray the influence of Bernini, the major exponent of 17th century Roman Baroque sculpture. This influence is strongly felt in the Glory of St Catherine of Siena which, as several contributors to the volume point out, captures the spirit of the Neapolitan born master's Ecstasy of St Theresa at Santa Maria delle Vittorie. As Sciberras explains, however, Cafà's early works, including the well known wooden processional statues in Malta, those of St Paul (Church of St Paul Shipwrecked, Valletta) and of Our Lady of the Rosary (Dominican Church, Rabat), are in the Baroque style associated with Bernini's great rival, Alessandro Algardi, a few of whose works can be found on the island.
One other work that is given prominence in this book, and which can be found at the National Museum of Fine Arts in Valletta, is the bozzetto of St Thomas of Villanova.
The dynamic quality of this excellent piece of Baroque sculpture is enhanced by the somewhat agitated folds of the drapery and the use of the serpentina in the figure of the female beggar. This terracotta model was carried out in preparation for the marble group at the church of St Agostino, close to Piazza Navona, a marble group that was completed, after Cafà's untimely death at the age of 31, by Ercole Ferrata in whose bottega the Vittoriosa sculptor worked. Ferrata finished a number of sculptures on which Cafà had been working before his death, including the Martyrdom of St Eustace in Sant' Agnese in Agone (the church designed by Francesco Borromini, in Piazza Navona, Rome) and the statue of St Paul in St Paul's Grotto, Rabat. The statue at St Paul's Grotto constitutes the subject of an excellent contribution to this volume penned by Canon John Azzopardi. Furthermore, as Jennifer Montagu reveals, in her splendid essay on Cafà's models in the Ferrata bottega, Ercole Ferrata relied on his assistants, including Cafà, to make "models to give him ideas"; he "would then correct the best of these to conform to his own style." Cafà, for his part, needed Ferrata's assistance "in the slow business of carving marble".
The clay modelling technique adopted by Cafà is the subject of a lengthy, detailed and very instructive piece by Tony Sigel that rounds off a volume that also includes an overview of the critical reception of Cafà works in publications in Italy and elsewhere (Maria Giulia Barberini), an account of Cafà's seven-year period in Rome (Elena Bianca di Gioia) and a very short piece focusing on the artist as he features in the historical archives of Rome's St Luke Academy (Angela Cipriani).
This book is a boon for Melitensia readers, art lovers and anyone who takes pride in the international achievements of Maltese people. Naturally, as is often the case with edited compendia of essays focusing on the same person, there tends to be a lot of repetition, throughout the volume, with respect to biographical background. This is understandable and probably inevitable.
We perhaps tend to use the word "genius" rather loosely on these islands, but this book certainly pays due homage to one of the very few artists of truly international calibre that the country has ever produced. Alas, this homage has hitherto been denied to the artist at his birthplace, the maritime city of Vittoriosa. A proper tribute to this remarkable sculptor is overdue in this locality and should entail much more than simply naming a street in his honour.
• Peter Mayo is Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education, University of Malta, and the author of The National Museum of Fine Arts (1997) published by Midsea Books.
• A review copy of this title was provided by the publisher.