A new exhibition of works by prominent 18th century Maltese artist Franesco Zahra opens at the Carmelite Priory in Mdina today.

The exhibition itself celebrates the 300th anniversary since the artist’s birth in 1710, and seeks to showcase his extraodinary range of artistic styles.

Speaking ahead of the launch, Keith Sciberras, the exhibition’s director, said: “Zahra was Malta’s most important native painter of the mid-18th century and his style wonderfully captures the spirit of the late Baroque. He was extremely prolific and could handle the brush with fascinating ease, thus furnishing Maltese churches with hundreds of paintings, large and small.

“His extraordinary creative spirit also ensured that his pictures breathed the compositional freshness of a mature artist. His output can be divided into a number of phases and this exhibition seeks to trace the evolution and development of his career, as well as to re-evaluate some of his most important works.”

Throughout his career, Zahra produced various designs for church furniture, marble altars, silver artefacts, liturgical vessels and other objets d’art that still survive scattered around the island. This exhibition will bring many of them together for the enjoyment of the public. Additionally, to mark the artist’s anniversary, a book by Dr Sciberras will be launched in collaboration with Jessica Borg. Photography is by Joe P. Borg and it is published by Midsea.

• The exhibition runs until December 5.