My sisters and I would like to set the record straight regarding the Triton Fountain outside Valletta City.
When the call for submissions was launched for the designing of a fountain in 1953, the artist Chevalier Vincent Apap, OBE, submitted a detailed plaster model of his own creation together with detailed designs and drawings of the surrounding base, which was eventually to be sculpted in Travertine marble. Apap’s concept was selected as the winner.
The artist then engaged the services of a friend of his, who at the time was a senior draughtsman in the Public Works Department, to work on the technical and architectural elements of the fountain, including the hydraulic systems, for Apap’s approval.
The artist went on to sculpt his creation in stucco in Naxxar, to be cast in bronze in a foundry in Naples. We feel that we must dispel the misconception that the Triton Fountain was sculpted and designed by none other than the artist Vincent Apap.
The inauguration ceremony was for us a most moving and emotional experience, and we express our profound appreciation to the entire team of experts who worked together on the restoration of Valletta’s iconic monument, the embellishment of ‘Triton Square’ and the ceremony.