An analysis of 2,000 pages of newly-discovered manuscripts shed new historical light on one of the most devout statues in Malta, including how its cult status evolved.

This emerged during the launch on Wednesday of a new publication titled Ir-Redentur: History, Art and Cult of the Miraculous Effigy of Christ the Redeemer at Senglea, Malta. The book was published by Midsea Books in collaboration with the Senglea Collegiate Chapter and features contributions by Maltese scholars, conservators and scientists.

The findings are mainly featured in an essay by Fr Jonathan Farrugia, assistant to the archpriest of Senglea, who thoroughly analysed the voluminous manuscripts dating back to the early years of the Confraternity of the Holy Crucifix, which has organised the Good Friday procession in the locality for the past three centuries.

“The documentary information puts right some details which, for ages, have been given erroneous dates due to lack of documentation,” Fr Farrugia, who is also the book’s editor, said.

One of the most important findings is that the statue, together with the rest of the procession Passion statues, were made by Saverio Laferla between 1742 and 1744.

Other details relate to the development of the procession, the hitherto unknown use of mannequins and details about their manufacture and make-up.

The annual pilgrimage draws thousands of people. Photo: Ian Noel Pace

There is information on the twinning of the confraternity with a similar one in Rome, the building of the altar in front of the statue, the date when the Redeemer was removed from the sacristy of the Oratory of the Holy Cross and placed in a prominent niche and also a hypothesis of the year when Carlo Darmanin made some alterations to the venerated statue.

The documentary information puts right some details

Fr Farrugia also established the correct dates when the six stone angels bearing the Passion symbols, located in the oratory, were made by Paolo Zahra, the year when the crucifix in the oratory was brought from Rome, by whom and under what conditions it was donated to the confraternity, and the year when the relics of the corpo santo of St Victorius arrived from Rome.

“Another important find concerns the year when the feast of the Redeemer was instituted, prior to the plague of 1813, which has always been considered the year when the feast was introduced,” Fr Farrugia noted.

The 184-page hardbound publication features an introduction by Senglea archpriest, Fr Robin Camilleri, and includes an essay by Sandro Debono, curator of the National Art Museum and director of MUŻA, on the image of Christ carrying the cross in the context of Maltese 18th-century art.

Conservator Maria Grazia Zenzani during the pictorial integration of the skin tone of the face of the Redeemer. Photo: Atelier Del Restauro

Conservator Valentina Lupo during the statue’s restoration between 2017 and 2018. Photo: Atelier Del Restauro

Valentina Lupo and Maria Grazia Zenzani, of the Atelier del Restauro, contribute to the scientific part of the book. They delve into the techniques used during the conservation process between 2017 and 2018 to bring the statue of Christ the Redeemer to the state it was in circa 1900.

This section also includes information by the Diagnostic Scientific Laboratories of Heritage Malta and the National Research Council of Italy (CNR-IVALSA), which carried out the scientific diagnostics. There is also a comparative photographic study by Joe Borg of the statue before and after the conservation.

The appendices go into some detail on the manufacturing technique of the statue, the monitoring of the niche and also a proposed approach for the preservation of the statue.

The publication is available from leading bookshops and from www.midseabooks.com.

Pilgrimage

The national pilgrimage with the statue of Christ the Redeemer, presided over by Archbishop Charles Scicluna, will be held in Senglea today at 6pm.

A detail of a manuscript that first mentions a cross and the misteri dating from January 1717.