It often happens that great artistic works are remembered by their patrons and benefactors. This happens especially when the works consists of intricate design and decoration works that are often comprised in a larger artistic heritage, and therefore tend to be outshined by the general artistic ensemble.

In such cases, the authors of these works are often hardly mentioned, except in those instances where the latter puts his imprint on a specific object of art. This is the case with artist and master craftsman Antonio Agius, who performed many works throughout Malta, both religious and profane, but somehow was never given sufficient prominence.

Agius (right) with friends on a visit to Pompei in 1938.Agius (right) with friends on a visit to Pompei in 1938.

Agius, amiably known as Toni, was born in Vittoriosa in 1888, the son of Antonio Agius, nicknamed Il-Pesis, a reputable carpenter. In his boyhood years, the young Antonio attended Vittoriosa School of Design for Boys, opened in 1854 in the former Palace of the Università in Strada di Fronte il Convento (now Triq il-Kunsill Popolari).

His first tutor was Maestro Giovanni Vincenzo Cardona, of Valletta. Agius became an all-round artist, with a good hand in drawing and design, working in wood and stone sculpture and in stucco and similar decorative works. Starting from his youth, he spent his life undertaking many projects in various media to sustain his family.

His workshop was situated in an old storeroom within the Vittoriosa bastions close to Couvre Porte. The house where he lived was popularly referred to as Id-Dar ta’ l-Anġlu (the house of the angel) because of an angel statue across the main door. Incidentally, the house had been the residence of the grand prior when the Order of St John was established at Vittoriosa, before it transferred to Valletta in 1572.

Working on the model of the mace for St Lawrence collegiate church, Vittoriosa, in 1913.Working on the model of the mace for St Lawrence collegiate church, Vittoriosa, in 1913.

In time, Agius excelled in his art and achieved fame to match that of his renowned contemporaries Abram Gatt, Ġanni Vella and Emanuele Buhagiar. His works are very often identified from the typical acanthus-leaf motif embedded in the decor, which became the distinguishing hallmark of his art.

In 1903, still at a very young age, Agius was engaged to design and construct the platform for the feast of the coronation of the statue of Our Lady of Victory in nearby Senglea. We then find him working on the ionic and composite capitals for the round pillars for the new Marsa parish church, commissioned by benefactor Lorenzo Balbi, between 1909-1913, where he also produced sculptures and stucco ornaments.

In the meantime, in 1913, the collegiate chapter of St Lawrence church, Vittoriosa, acquired the privilege from Pope Pius X to use a silver mace as a symbol of prestige. Agius was commissioned to make the model according to the design created by Alphonse Maria Pace. The mace was then manufactured by renowned silversmiths Ghezzi of Milan. At about this time, Agius also produced three antependiums in gilded wood for the church of Benedictine Nuns of St Scholastica in Vittoriosa.

In 1916, Agius worked in Gozo, where he decorated the chapel of St Rita in the church of St Augustine in Victoria. Around about this time he produced two artistic frames and a curtain pelmet, executed in baroque style, for the collegiate church of Għarb.

His popularity in Gozo for his artistic genius reached its climax with his decoration works in the parish church of Għasri dedicated to Corpus Christi, where he was responsible for the magnificent facades of the main altar and of the two side transcepts. Agius expressed his great satisfaction in a diary note when, some 30 years later, his work was praised by Governor Robert Laycock, who was on a visit to Għasri parish church.

His popularity in Gozo reached its climax with his decoration works in the parish church of Għasri

At the time that Agius was working at Għasri, Fr Carm Caruana, a historian from Nadur, was serving as curate. The latter was so impressed with the finished work that, upon his return to Nadur, he called Agius to execute decorations in the parish church of St Peter and St Paul.

Another major undertaking Agius secured in Gozo during 1924-1930 was the sculptural decorations at the new Ta’ Pinu shrine. Here he again demonstrated his versatility with the use of hammer and chisel. His lacework designs and decorations in every corner of the church shine out through the sparkling beauty of the Maltese stone.

Antonio Agius in 1960.Antonio Agius in 1960.

Back in Malta, his repute as designer and stone sculptor was again in demand. Marquis Scicluna asked him to work on all the sculptural works and ionic capitals of the numerous columns that surround Villa Dragonara at St Julian’s.

But his largest workload came from decoration projects in churches. It was at this time that the parish churches of Żebbug and Siġġiewi were seeking an artist to embellish the side chapels that had been added to earlier in the respective churches. The decoration work was assigned without hesitation to Agius. He worked almost single-handedly, hardly ever seeking the help of assistants or support artisans.

In 1924 the foundation stone was laid for the new Christ the King parish church in Paola. This was to be an edifice of gigantic proportions designed by architect Gużè D’Amato, the construction of which trailed on for many years until 1959. In the interval, Agius was summoned on several occasions to work on sculptures and designs. He left his mark in the Paola church in the elaborate ionic capitals that adorn the tall round pillars that dominate the church interior.

In 1924 Agius completed what can be considered as his masterpiece: the monumental urn, or tomb, for the dead body of Christ, which forms part of Mosta’s processional Good Friday statues. This is a superb baroque structure in gilded carved wood with intricate design.

Agius’s 1918 decorated frame for the Last Supper painting at Għasri parish church.Agius’s 1918 decorated frame for the Last Supper painting at Għasri parish church.

It can be said that this work of art came almost entirely from the talented Agius family of Vittoriosa because, while Antonio worked on the design and the carving, his carpenter brother Giovanni constructed the underlying structure and base, while his other brother, tailor Salvatore, fashioned the embroidered white velvet and llama awning. The gilding was left to another Vittoriosa artisan, Lorenzo Gatt, commonly known as Wenzu l-Induratur. Agius was so pleased with the completed product that he did not hesitate to invite the Malta Society of Arts, Manufacture and Commerce to carry out an inspection and certify it.

The urn was paid by the respected Mosta rotunda benefactor Chev. Carmelo Dimech. Agius’s original bozzetto of the urn, belonging to the Dimech family, was exhibited in public for the first time in Mosta in 2009. Dimech also engaged Agius to decorate his palatial mansion, Villa Dimech, in Eucharistic Congress Road, Mosta.

Agius’s supremacy in wood-carving is also demonstrated in the exquisite set of rococo frames for the Via Sagra, also for the Mosta rotunda. This is a unique set because it comprises 16, instead of the standard 14 stations, purposely to fit in eight pairs into the eight arched apses upon which the dome rests. The extra two frames surround the repositories that hold the holy oil and the reliquary, respectively.

To underline his versatility in all fields of art, in 1928 he undertook a delicate task for Żejtun parish church: the restoration and remodelling of the original wooden patronal statute and pedestal of St Catherine of Alexandria, the work of Andrea Imbroll from 1760.

In 1948 the Maltese Augustinians were intent on decorating their church in Tunis, so they called Agius. He travelled to Tunis with his tools and saw to their request

For the Annunciation church in Vittoriosa, a little distance away from his bottega, Agius embellished the interior of the newly erected dome whose panels had just been painted by Italian artist Gian Battista Conti. The dome was not to survive for long because the Dominican church received a direct bomb hit in 1941 during World War II.

During the war, several churches were destroyed or suffered damage, and therefore there was demand for new art works in the reconstruction in which Agius made a significant contribution. He was entrusted with the interior decoration of the newly rebuilt Greek church dedicated to Our Lady of Damascus in Valletta.

The Agius family in 1893. Young Antonio is seen on the left sitting on the floor with his siblings, father and mother.The Agius family in 1893. Young Antonio is seen on the left sitting on the floor with his siblings, father and mother.

Not far away we also find him decorating the chapel of St Rita in St Augustine church, the church of Ta’ Liesse, the grand facade of the Auberge d’Italie in Merchants Street, and that of the Exchange Building in Republic Street, Valletta.

Outside Valletta he also showed his prowess as a master stone decorater during 1950-1954 on the re-erection of the basilica of Our Lady of Victory in Senglea, where he had earlier worked on the raising at Senglea Wharf of the high imposing canopy for the coronation festivities in 1921 when the statue of the Nativity of Our Lady was crowned by the Bishop of Malta Mauro Caruana in the presence of a large crowd.

Agius was also a protagonist in the decoration of the new parish church of St Andrew in Luqa, and in the parish churches of Kirkop, Safi and Żurrieq. For the Birkirkara basilica, he produced ornamentation in the side chapels of the Holy Crucifix and of Our Lady of the Rosary.

Agius also performed sculptural commissions for churches in Sliema: in Romanesque at St Gregory the Great church, in modern baroque at Stella Maris church and in neo-classic at Jesus of Nazareth church.

With the revival of village festas in post-war years, Agius moved into a new area: the design and manufacture of religious street decorations. He created attractive trophies, festoons and other external decorative installations in wood for the feasts at Naxxar and Qormi.

The British Services contracted him to restore and repair broken tombstones and marble mausoleums, statutes and eschateons at Ta’ Braxia cemetery. At Mtarfa he adorned the summit of the British Military Hospital with the sculpture of the royal coat of arms.

In 1948 the Maltese Augustinians settled in Tunisia. They were intent on decorating their church in Tunis, so they called Agius. He travelled to Tunis with his tools and equipment and saw to their request.

Agius worked tirelessly, producing innumerable art works until his retirement. For a while after the war, he settled in Tarxien from where he moved with his family to Gżira. He died at the age of 75 on May 12, 1963, and was buried at the Addolorata cemetery.

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