Many years ago when I had just left college and one of my slightly older friends had just learned how to drive, we found ourselves in Mdina. Passing by what we had always referred to as The Norman House we noticed that we happened to be there on one of the couple of days and at the precise time that it was scheduled to be open to the public. Needless to say the doors were tight shut. We knocked on the door and rang the bell determined to be let in. Eventually the door opened and, very reluctantly, we were admitted. After so many years, my impression was then of a place that had been shut up for too long. The smell of stale cabbage that seems to linger in houses that are deprived of fresh air pervaded the place. Dark, dank and gloomy rooms with inadequate lighting full of dusty treasures that seemed as if they were falling to pieces, the visit depressed me no end.
For many years I put The Norman House on my mind's back burner. I sometimes wondered when and how this foundation, the only one of its kind, would get its act together and transform the 700-year-old house and its unique collection into something more attractive. This became more of a pressing issue as the years passed and I got to know more about Olof Gollcher and his wonderful collection from his many relations. I barely remembered that first most depressing visit; however, from time to time, some painting or objet d'art was photographed and reproduced for some special exhibition or publication and one wondered what had happened to the collection itself.
In 2002 when still working at the bank, Maurice de Giorgio invited the then chief executive officer, Tom Robson, to visit The Norman House along with the PRO, Josef Camilleri and myself. Maurice de Giorgio, chairman of Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti, by that time had several exhibitions of international standard and many splendid publications under his belt. His reputation as Malta's premier perfectionist is well-deserved. It is because he will not accept anything that is second rate that makes Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti so eminently successful enjoying the enthusiastic support of the government, the sponsors, the collectors and above all the public that has come to regard it as a benchmark for excellence and style.
Mr de Giorgio informed us that Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti had just concluded an agreement with the Gollcher Foundation through which the house and its contents would be restored and its administration passed on to Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti. Although it was obvious that the restoration was more than equal to the Twelve Labours of Hercules, I was delighted, as I knew that Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti would go all out to transform the place into the gem that it deserved to be. This became even more evident as we toured the rooms and examined the collection.
Since the time I had last visited the place when still in my teens, I had got to know a bit more about our heritage, our furniture, pictures, faience, silver and artifacts; therefore I was dumbstruck by the richness and variation of a truly esoteric collection. When Olof Gollcher bought the house in 1927 it became a repository for treasures that one could still buy for pennies in those days when the Maltese public were known to regularly send Louis XV fauteuils to the bakeries for the crime of being unfashionable! Can one imagine how many pieces of Seicento furniture met that fiery fate? Many collections extant today have a number of pieces that were saved from the ovens; pieces that are an artistic legend in themselves! The Gollcher Collection is one such collection; the most impressive pieces of which being the 16th and 17th century pieces many of the type I had never seen before.
The Norman House, or as it is now called, Palazzo Falson, will be inaugurated next month and to mark the event Miranda Publishers created amazing tribute to Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti, its chairman, and the house itself with a special limited edition of the 360° series. Palazzo Falson - A Historic House Museum is a wonderful book to peruse and enjoy at leisure. The grandiose photographs taken by Enrico Formica are artistic in the extreme. The book underscores the point made by Maurice de Giorgio in his introduction namely that the restoration of this house to its present pristine condition "makes us aware of the cultural tragedy we would have suffered, unconsciously, had it been lost".
Olof Gollcher's concept of leaving a house what was not a museum open to the public was, in 1943, a very avante garde one. Nobody in Malta followed his example till the de Piro family opened up Casa Rocca Piccola in the early 1990s. For many years owners of art collections, accumulated or inherited, lived in mortal terror of either being robbed or, worse, having their treasures confiscated by a rapacious government and their functionaries. It was part of an unspoken etiquette never to speak about what we had seen to "outsiders". Whether this was true or exaggerated I will never know, however, having been lucky enough to be part of the milieu that had regular access to houses that were like Aladdin's caves at the time made me very aware of the possessive paranoia that being the custodian to such treasures entailed. The Olof Gollcher collection was one such unique part of Malta's patrimony, surviving in neglect through all those years to rise like a splendid phoenix in 2007 for the greater delectation of the Maltese public as a very important part of our collective patrimony. It was in fact Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti to gradually break down the ramparts and persuade collectors to exhibit their treasures in its various exhibitions. The breakthrough was the Maltese Clock one and its catalogue today has become a most sought-after collectors' item commanding a pretty hefty price at auction should one be lucky enough to find it.
The New Miranda Publishers tome makes one feel as if one is actually in Palazzo Falson; so evocatively and ingeniously are the photographs taken. The exhaustive and very informative research undertaken by Michelle Galea which describes each photograph and catalogues practically each item is an excellent way to enjoy this house in the comfort of your home; not that an actual visit should not be part of your immediate plans for the future by any means; however the visual feast provided by the publishers whose reputation of being sticklers for artistic excellence and style is equal to that of Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti, is certainly the next best thing.
The book is available from all leading booksellers.
For many years I put The Norman House on my mind's back burner. I sometimes wondered when and how this foundation, the only one of its kind, would get its act together and transform the 700-year-old house and its unique collection into something more attractive. This became more of a pressing issue as the years passed and I got to know more about Olof Gollcher and his wonderful collection from his many relations. I barely remembered that first most depressing visit; however, from time to time, some painting or objet d'art was photographed and reproduced for some special exhibition or publication and one wondered what had happened to the collection itself.
In 2002 when still working at the bank, Maurice de Giorgio invited the then chief executive officer, Tom Robson, to visit The Norman House along with the PRO, Josef Camilleri and myself. Maurice de Giorgio, chairman of Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti, by that time had several exhibitions of international standard and many splendid publications under his belt. His reputation as Malta's premier perfectionist is well-deserved. It is because he will not accept anything that is second rate that makes Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti so eminently successful enjoying the enthusiastic support of the government, the sponsors, the collectors and above all the public that has come to regard it as a benchmark for excellence and style.
Mr de Giorgio informed us that Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti had just concluded an agreement with the Gollcher Foundation through which the house and its contents would be restored and its administration passed on to Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti. Although it was obvious that the restoration was more than equal to the Twelve Labours of Hercules, I was delighted, as I knew that Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti would go all out to transform the place into the gem that it deserved to be. This became even more evident as we toured the rooms and examined the collection.
Since the time I had last visited the place when still in my teens, I had got to know a bit more about our heritage, our furniture, pictures, faience, silver and artifacts; therefore I was dumbstruck by the richness and variation of a truly esoteric collection. When Olof Gollcher bought the house in 1927 it became a repository for treasures that one could still buy for pennies in those days when the Maltese public were known to regularly send Louis XV fauteuils to the bakeries for the crime of being unfashionable! Can one imagine how many pieces of Seicento furniture met that fiery fate? Many collections extant today have a number of pieces that were saved from the ovens; pieces that are an artistic legend in themselves! The Gollcher Collection is one such collection; the most impressive pieces of which being the 16th and 17th century pieces many of the type I had never seen before.
The Norman House, or as it is now called, Palazzo Falson, will be inaugurated next month and to mark the event Miranda Publishers created amazing tribute to Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti, its chairman, and the house itself with a special limited edition of the 360° series. Palazzo Falson - A Historic House Museum is a wonderful book to peruse and enjoy at leisure. The grandiose photographs taken by Enrico Formica are artistic in the extreme. The book underscores the point made by Maurice de Giorgio in his introduction namely that the restoration of this house to its present pristine condition "makes us aware of the cultural tragedy we would have suffered, unconsciously, had it been lost".
Olof Gollcher's concept of leaving a house what was not a museum open to the public was, in 1943, a very avante garde one. Nobody in Malta followed his example till the de Piro family opened up Casa Rocca Piccola in the early 1990s. For many years owners of art collections, accumulated or inherited, lived in mortal terror of either being robbed or, worse, having their treasures confiscated by a rapacious government and their functionaries. It was part of an unspoken etiquette never to speak about what we had seen to "outsiders". Whether this was true or exaggerated I will never know, however, having been lucky enough to be part of the milieu that had regular access to houses that were like Aladdin's caves at the time made me very aware of the possessive paranoia that being the custodian to such treasures entailed. The Olof Gollcher collection was one such unique part of Malta's patrimony, surviving in neglect through all those years to rise like a splendid phoenix in 2007 for the greater delectation of the Maltese public as a very important part of our collective patrimony. It was in fact Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti to gradually break down the ramparts and persuade collectors to exhibit their treasures in its various exhibitions. The breakthrough was the Maltese Clock one and its catalogue today has become a most sought-after collectors' item commanding a pretty hefty price at auction should one be lucky enough to find it.
The New Miranda Publishers tome makes one feel as if one is actually in Palazzo Falson; so evocatively and ingeniously are the photographs taken. The exhaustive and very informative research undertaken by Michelle Galea which describes each photograph and catalogues practically each item is an excellent way to enjoy this house in the comfort of your home; not that an actual visit should not be part of your immediate plans for the future by any means; however the visual feast provided by the publishers whose reputation of being sticklers for artistic excellence and style is equal to that of Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti, is certainly the next best thing.
The book is available from all leading booksellers.