19th century painting stolen from Ta’ Ġieżu

A painting by Antonio Mifsud, dated 1864, was stolen from the church of Our Lady of Jesus, commonly known as Ta’ Ġieżu, in Valletta.

The painting, featuring St Anne holding the Blessed Virgin Mary as a child, went missing on Wednesday and it was realised that it had been stolen when the sacristan opened the church for the daily Mass after 5 p.m.

It adorned a small side altar in a section of the church dedicated to the Immaculate Conception, at the side of the main entrance.

Church rector Fr Joe Caruana said the thief must have climbed onto this altar to get the painting off the wall and in the process dropped a small crucifix that was on the altar.

It was the crucifix on the ground that drew the attention of a woman who went to the church for the 6.15 p.m. mass and noticed that the painting was missing.

Fr Caruana said it was not the first time that the church was targeted by thieves and vandals.

The most notorious incident occurred in April 2006 when British national Krishanu Bhattacharjee walked onto the altar during Mass and pushed over the crucifix and two candelabras because, he later told a magistrate, “Your God is a God of violence”.

The magistrate ruled that the man had no control over his wishes and intentions when he damaged the 200-year-old mother of pearl crucifix.