I refer to the letter by Gerald Bugeja (‘Christ the King Monument’, December 1).
The face of Antonio Sciortino’s Christ the King reminds me of Christ the Saviour done by Alessandro Algardi in the 16th century, which was commissioned by Fra Alessandro Zambeccari. It was a very big statue, about 13 metres high, placed at the entrance to the Grand Harbour. Only part of the original statue is preserved at the St John’s Cathedral Museum, in Valletta. A replica can be seen at the entrance of the same church.
The bronze face of Algardi’s Christ the Saviour was restored a few years ago (‘Algardi bronze face of Christ restored’, June 8, 2002).
I had once been told there is an old painting showing Algardi’s statue at the entrance to the Grand Harbour. If this does exist, I would appreciate were somebody to send in a picture.
I appeal to the Church in Malta to do its best and commission a similar statue, of the same size as the original one, which would stand near Ta’ Liesse church, in Valletta. After all, this is part of our ‘sacred art’ history.