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1845 various authors: Treasures of Malta, No. 62, Vol. XXI, No. 2, Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti. 96 pp.
As the old Marsa power station is being slowly dismantled, few might know that the site on which it lay on, the former Jesuits’ Hill, was the actual site of Gian Francesco Abela’s house which housed an intriguing cabinet of curiosities which can be rightly termed as Malta’s first museum.
In the latest issue of Treasures of Malta, German scholar Thomas Freller writes about Abela’s museum which was well-known enough abroad to attract several distinguished visitors who gave their own accounts of the exhibits of the so-called Museo di San Giacomo.
Abela claimed that almost all his exhibits had been found locally and a good number of them were to form the basis of the national collection.
The visitors included such well-known international scholars as Georg Gualtherus in 1624, Athanasius Kircher in 1637, and Burchardus Niderstedt in 1654.
Music historian Anna Borg Cardona writes about ‘The Carnival Battitu or Parata in the 18th century’.
Her research has shown evidence of sword dances being actually carried by a troupe of 12 men from Żebbuġ in 1774, a couple of decades earlier than the earliest recorded dance hitherto.
The troupe seems to have been very well organised, with its own instructor and also a sotto maestro.
Defaulting from the duties would have hit the unfortunate dancer to the tune of 65 scudi, a very considerable sum indeed.
The official contract drawn in front of a notary points to an exceedingly professional set-up. Borg Cardona also proposes an interesting very plausible etymology of the word parata.
The authorship of the Recherches Historiques et Politiques sur Malte has, in very recent years, been newly-attributed to Mikiel Anton Vassalli.
Robert Thake, a young specialist in prohibited literature and anonymous publications, argues convincingly that it should be re-assigned to Onorato Bres.
Published in Paris in 1798, when Malta was under the French, the book includes an introduction where the author states his intention “to make known all that which is honourable and useful about my country, and at the same to satisfy the curiosity of the French”.
John Critien is the only Maltese knight of justice of the Order of St John and knight resident at Fort St Angelo.
Her research has shown evidence of sword dances being actually carried by a troupe of 12 men from Żebbuġ
In the series ‘My Favourite Object’, he opts for an exquisite hexagonal watercolour and gouache miniature portrait by Emmanuelle de La Celle (1762-1806), showing a young Russian officer, Pyotr Talyzin.
In the series ‘Melitensia Curios’, William Zammit, an expert on local ephemera, describes an issue of the balance sheet of the notorious Reggimento di Malta.
This was set up in 1776 following the abortive rising of the priests of 1775 and was composed of foreign soldiers who more often than not ended on the wrong side of the law.
Even the humble pipa tal-qasba, finds its way among the subjects of Melitensia. John Wood writes about the pipi tal-qasba the clay pipes that seem to have been quite popular among the lower classes addicted to the smoke of Hades at least from the 18th century onwards.
His study is based on sket-ches, pictures, graffiti and assorted writings.
The scholar of classics, the late Fr Joseph Busuttil (1935–2014) writes about the famous Chrestion inscription, the pieces of which were discovered at Imtarfa in 1613 and may therefore refer to the classical temple of Proserpina that was probably sited there.
The inscription records the restoration of the temple by Chrestion, procurator of the islands, and which could very well date to the time of Emperor Augustus himself. In any case the author believes it cannot antedate 27 BC.
Busuttil explains the historical background of the time and the duties of a Roman procurator which could indicate that the emperor owned personal estates in the islands.
Kristina Cassar sets the works of Antonio Sciortino (1879–1947) in their artistic and historic contexts.
His studies and work in fascist Italy and his position with the British Academy in Rome must have sometimes put him in awkward situations, but this rarely shows in the fine quality and creativity of his sculptures which won acclaim as far apart as the Ukraine and Brazil.
A book of unpublished photographs of Sciortino’s works, due to be published later this year, will show a number of hitherto unknown works of the artist and pose some new questions about his works.
One of Sciortino’s public works is the fine monument to Lord Strickland that graces the Upper Barrakka Gardens.
Ingrid Ross, a conservator and a restorer, provides a detailed account of the manufacturing process which was carried out in Rome, allegedly and ironically making use of bronze from discarded monuments of Benito Mussolini.
Conservation work on the monument, which was inaugurated in 1947, the year of the artist’s death, was carried out three years ago as the bronze had suffered extensively owing to the proximity of the sea, pigeon droppings, and atmospheric factors.
The intriguing cover shows Valletta from the second Malta Suite by Julian Trevelyan (1910–1988).