A Pauline cult exhibition was inaugurated by President Eddie Fenech Adami at the Gozo Ministry in Victoria.

The exhibition, St Paul: Faith and Iconography - Representations in Maltese Art: Late Medieval to the Present, was put up by the Sacred Art Commission of the Gozo Diocese. It includes altar paintings, paintings from private collections, bozzetti, designs for church furniture, liturgical items and statues - all related to Pauline cult in Malta.

A selection of engravings and lithographs, not all linked to Malta but all inspired from Pauline episodes, and a collection of 17th, 18th and 19th century publications also feature in the exhibition.

The most important exhibits include the late 13th century Siculo-Romanesque relief from the Gozo Museum of Archaeology (Heritage Malta), possibly showing the earliest representation of St Paul in Gozo and the 1474 Domenico Gagini Holy Water Stoup originally produced for Mdina Cathedral, subsequently donated to Għarb parish church in 1728. Another important exhibit is a gilt-bronze relief tondo of the Beheading of St Paul, an important 1680 cast after the great original by Alessandro Algardi, which has been loaned by the Wignacourt Museum of Rabat, Malta.

Other significant exhibits include an altarpiece of St Paul by Ignatio Carlo Cortis, one of Malta's most significant 19th century artists, and two bozzetti by Lazzaro Pisani, being exhibited for the first time since their bequest to Nadur parish church by the artist's late daughter two years ago.

Another highly-prized work is a 1960 painting of the Shipwreck of St Paul by Willie Apap.

The exhibition is open until February 14, Monday to Friday during office hours and Saturday and Sunday between 9 a.m. and noon.

Present for the inauguration were Gozo Minister Giovanna Debono, Gozo Bishop Mario Grech, who blessed the exhibition, and the Apostolic Nuncio Tommaso Caputo.