Today we are commemorating the 100th anniversary of the birth of Emvin Cremona, one of the most prolific Maltese artists of the 20th century, leaving behind a legacy of beautiful paintings in many of our churches, besides many others in private collections. 

Emvin CremonaEmvin Cremona

He was born on May 27, 1919, the son of Joseph and Maria Assunta Mizzi, and grew up in Valletta until his family moved to Ħamrun. His artistic journey started at the School of Art, finding himself in a class that included Victor Diacono, Anton Inglott, Esprit Barthet, Willie Apap, and Carmelo Borg Pisani. 

Like most of his fellow artist-friends, Cremona ended up in Rome for a course of studies at the Regia Accademia di Belle Arti under Carlo Siviero between 1938 and 1940. He reached Malta with his close friend  Inglott just before the war started. In 1945 Emvin was able to proceed to London and Paris to further his studies in art. Between 1945 and 1947 he attended classes at the Slade School of Fine Arts and later attended lessons at the Parisian Ecole Superieur de Beaux Arts under professor Jean Dupas. 

Cremona returned to Malta in 1948. He married Lilian Gatt on December 26, 1948, at St Gregory’s church in Sliema. They had four children, Marco, Anna, Sylvana, and Nadia. 

In 1945, his friend Inglott died suddenly and Cremona was asked to finish the ceiling of the church of St Joseph in Msida, as they had similar styles, after Inglott had just finished the hauntingly-serene Death of St Joseph in the apse. He continued working at Żebbuġ, Gozo, and in the 1950s and 1960s he did the ceiling of the Għaxaq church, and later on the Floriana and Ħamrun parish churches. Other churches where he left various paintings are: Burmarrad, Balzan, Senglea, St Augustine and St Paul’s in Valletta, and smaller churches like St Francis in Birkirkara, Annunciation/St Dominic in Vittoriosa, Our Lady of Lourdes, Paola, Our Lady of Fatima in Guardamangia, St Mary’s church in Mqabba, St Gregory’s in Sliema, Ta’ Pinu Sanctuary, Għarb, besides works at the Malta International Airport, the Emigrants’ Commission, the Catholic Institute, at Farsons and even at the United Nations in New York. 

He also started and collaborated with his son Marco to do the stations of the cross at the parish church of St Julian’s

Cremona was responsible for 62 sets of stamps, comprising more than 170 different original designs, besides various first-day cover designs. He started in 1957 and ended his marathon of stamp designs in 1980, leaving a heritage that is easily described as ‘Malta’s golden age of philately’. One of his earliest impressive sets was the one he designed for the centennial of the shipwreck of St Paul in 1960. 

The volume of work Cremona produced was truly incredible

The Catholic Institute also has a series of panels he made for the main stage of the same centennial.

Cremona also designed three statues which were then crafted by the Ortisei company in Italy, specifically the Immaculate Conception at Ta’ l-Ibrag parish, and the St Joseph the Worker statue and the Blessed Mother at the parish church in Birkirkara. He also designed various wrought-iron designs (ferro-battuto). These can be found at St Joseph’s Retreat House in Tarġa Gap, at the British Hotel in Valletta and the front door of the church of Our Lady of Good Counsel in Paceville. All these works were crafted by Salvu Borg of Naxxar. 

The dome at St Cajetan's, ĦamrunThe dome at St Cajetan's, Ħamrun

He also designed a large wrought-iron image of St Paul for the centennial celebrations, which is in the Catholic Institute. He also made many pen and ink drawings, most of which are in private collections. Some of his works were transferred into a mosaic, as is the case in Ta’ Pinu, two smaller works at St Paul’s in Valletta, as well as the massive depiction of St John Baptist de la Salle in the Cottonera school.

The volume of work Cremona produced was truly incredible, and many of the local parish churches can claim a piece of his artwork, and apart from the four major parish churches mentioned earlier, other smaller churches and chapels are happy and proud to own a painting or two of his. 

He suffered a stroke which left him incapable of painting anymore, although he did try to use his left hand to paint four simple paintings for each of his four children. Cremona died on January 29, 1987. 

Let us honour him this year, 100 years from his birth.

The dome at St Cajetan's, ĦamrunThe dome at St Cajetan's, Ħamrun

Cremona on his wedding day with his wife Lilian.Cremona on his wedding day with his wife Lilian.

Public lecture

Emvin Cremona’s family will present a different and more human facet of him, his public and private life at a lecture organised by Heritage Malta on Wednesday.

The lecture, to which admission is free of charge, is being held at MUŻA at the Auberge d’Italie, Merchants Street, Valletta, at 6.30pm.

Painting from the ceiling of St Publius church in Floriana, which Cremona did in the 1970s.Painting from the ceiling of St Publius church in Floriana, which Cremona did in the 1970s.

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