Exhibitions of art curiosities of historical or social anthropological interest have been an eagerly-anticipated feature of Palazzo Falson Historic House Museum, Mdina.

Exhibits also include 18th-century silver Marian crowns of different workmanship, including Portuguese, French and German in addition to the Maltese examples

These exhibitions take us through the history of objects, their uses and their diversified forms.

The exhibition The Art and History of Counting Prayers, in the nearby Palazzo de Piro follows on this tradition. It is essentially an exhibition on the history of the rosary.

The well-curated exhibition brings together items from several collections and is not uniquely related to the Catholic faith. There are also beads for counting prayers in Eastern Christian traditions, as well as others coming from an Islamic and Buddhist milieu.

One of the first exhibits to be encountered is a painting of St Paul the Hermit who lived in the fourth century and who is thought to be the first Christian hermit.

The caption tells us that he counted 300 prayers by laying out 300 stones each morning and throwing one away after a prayer was said.

We then quickly move on to simpler methods of counting prayers. The evolution of the rosary clearly unfolds and the meaning of the several terms employed is well explained.

Exhibits also include 18th-century silver Marian crowns of different workmanship, including Portuguese, French and German in addition to the Maltese examples.

There are also several processional medallions, such as the 18th-century medallion of the Holy Rosary Confraternity of Cospicua.

To further complement our experience, a 19th-century white robe with hood, hat, rosary and begging bowl worn by members of the Archconfraternity of the Dominican parish church, Valletta, is also displayed.

The variety and range of rosary beads is great, and bringing so many of them together from private and ecclesiastical collections must not have been an easy task. Some rosary beads make use of carved bone, such as a 17th-century black wooden rosary with bone interrupters.

What stands out were coral rosary beads with silver or gold interrupters, medallions and/or crucifixes as well as others made of mother of pearl and ivory.

Paintings feature in order to show the cult of the Virgin of the Rosary. They include two 16th-century polyptychs. There are also portraits of women holding rosary beads, which help the visitor place the religious object in context.

I should also mention a more novel form of polyptych purposely produced for this exhibition. Thirteen paintings collectively entitled A Polyptych: The Joyful Mysteries by Kenneth Zammit Tabona hang in the inner room. Individually interesting, these paintings comprise a visually exciting whole when seen together.

Also worth pointing out is a placard of the Madonna and Child with St Dominic and St Joseph floating on clouds. It belonged to the Archconfraternity of the Most Holy Rosary which catered for the spiritual comfort of those condemned to death.

The placard was intended to bring comfort to those about to be executed by reminding them of the heavenly bliss that awaited them if they made a good death.

The exhibition caption says that this was a ‘soothing picture to float the criminal to the next world with pious thoughts and belief in salvation’.

An interesting aspect of rosary beads touched upon in the inner room of the exhibition is the element of these religious objects being used as souvenirs by those going on pilgrimages. The small scale of these objects means that they were easily portable.

All of these exhibits are on display at Palazzo de Piro, Mdina, an annex to the Mdina Cathedral Museum.

The newly renovated palazzo provides a good exhibition space that serves the purpose of this exhibition well.

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