A monument commemorates persons, actions or events. Before starting to chisel, the sculptor usually studies the setting where the monument is to be placed.  Way back in the 1970s, following a number of submissions for the building of the monument to freedom which was eventually erected in Vittoriosa, none appeared to satisfy then prime minister Dom Mintoff. Finally some cabinet ministers recommended artist Anton Agius.

After visiting the site in Vittoriosa, Agius prepared a sketch matching the surroundings of the baroque church. Prominent in his original design was an allegorical shape of a feminine figure symbolising Malta, carrying the flag, followed by a throng of citizens. The design also included a naval ship and a warplane leaving the island.

From the outset the sculptor made it known that this would involve a lot of work and high expense. Most of the proposed figures were in the nude, this being Agius’s strong point in his artistry. Through this monument he proposed to symbolise how the people had been liberated from poverty and colonialism.

However Mintoff dismissed the sculptor’s proposal as he was not after this type of art. He pointed out that he was not keen on nudes in monuments. The prime minister preferred the artist to construct a mount with some pasturi-like figures on it. He directed Agius to build an elevation and cover it with big stones. It took seven attempts for a compromise to be reached.

Since time was pressing, the sculptor had to act fast. While constructing the slope, he ordered large stones to be brought to the site from Dingli Cliffs and a coarse mount soon started to take shape. In the meantime Anton set off to model the figures (which Mintoff kept calling pasturi), consisting of four allegorical forms: one representing a British sailor, another a Maltese worker who would hoist the flag, a third receiving the last handshake and the bugler. These ‘monumental’ roles were to be played during the actual ceremony of the handover on March 31, 1979, the first Freedom Day, by leading radio operator David Gilchrist of HMS London, Alfred Xuereb of Bormla, Carmel Boxall of Birġu and PC Richard Cauchi of Ħamrun.

As soon as Mintoff saw the models of the four figures he was not satisfied and recalled Anton to Castille. On the artist’s arrival, then minister Wistin Abela informed him that Mintoff appeared to be objecting to the hand of the British sailor resting on the shoulder of the Maltese worker while shaking hands. Forewarned, Agius entered the prime minister’s office but to his surprise the prime minister, who usually remained with his head buried in his papers, rose and greeted the sculptor by extending his hand in a handshake.

Wily Anton offered one hand while placing the other, which happened to be in plaster, on Dom’s shoulder. Mintoff immediately requested Anton to first remove his hand from his shoulder and then go and remove that of the statue from the shoulder of the Maltese worker.

Now that a commission of sorts was agreed, one of the ditches surrounding the Valletta bastions served as a workshop where Agius started sculpting the full-size figures. When Mintoff was inspecting them before they were sent to Naples for casting, he noticed that the Maltese worker had too much of a long neck. At first Anton thought that for once Mintoff was joking but the prime minister appeared to be very serious and it was all in vain for the sculptor explaining what the real model looked like.

Mintoff remarked that in any case the artist should not have repeated Nature’s shortcoming. The following day Agius reduced the length of the model’s neck.

On March 26, just five days to the big day, Mintoff accompanied by minister Lorry Sant and the late Toni Pellegrini and Albert Mizzi, then chairman of Air Malta, visited the monument. Along the passage leading to the top of the mount, bronze letters produced by dockyard workers read: Għollew leħinhom il-Feddejja, Ingħaqdu l-Ħaddiema, Batew, Tqabdu, Ħadmu u wasal il-Jum, Rebħet Malta u l-Ħelsien, referring to the workers’ struggle for freedom.

The bronze letters were highly polished; it was Mintoff’s intention at first to have the guard on duty polish them daily. But then he changed his mind.

He was no longer keen on the shiny appearance of the text and eventually suggested the bronze letters be treated with acid to turn them green.  Furthermore, to enable easy access to the mount the artist had constructed a series of low steps all the way up to the monument.

But once more Mintoff objected, explaining that nobody laid easy steps for the Maltese in their acquisition of freedom. He pointed out that the nation had to struggle, suffer and risk. The sculptor thickened the steps with sand.

After the ceremony Agius, who passed away in 2008, believed that the monument after all was one of the closest to his heart. He could understand how Mintoff wanted to show suffering and simplicity representing the turning of a previous military base into a republic built on work and peace.

He also seems to have wanted to bring to urban Vittoriosa, the first city of the Knights on the island, a piece of the countryside, complete with cactus and palm trees. In fact more trees were planned to be planted around the square, but the parish of St Lawrence seems to have objected as these were going to obstruct the flow of people going to church.

In spite of the hassle the artist had to go through to complete his work on this monument, recognition and fame led him to do some other 13 national monuments including the one to the victims of 1919 in Valletta. Soon after the inauguration of the monument to Freedom, he received an honorary medal from Italy in recognition of his artistic prowess.

The author had interviewed Anton Agius about this story in 1984.

Anthony Xuereb has been following the local art scene for many years.