The sculptor who contributed greatly to the development of religious art in Malta
Among the many prominent people born in Senglea we find the sculptor Carlo Darmanin known as ‘Carlozzu’. Carlo was born on the 30th of August 1825 to Giuseppe and Mary nee Cumbo. He was baptized the next day, in the parish church of the Nativity in Senglea.
Carlo and his brothers were trained in art by their father, a marbler by trade. The Darmanin family had a company named Giuseppe Darmanin e Figli that would take on marble work commissions for the churches and the British government for works such as altars, statues, fonts, columns and gravestones.
Carlo soon began specialising in papier-màchè. There are various accounts of how this interest began. Some say it was on the suggestion of his cousin, Giovanni, while others attribute it to the fact that an Italian marbler opened shop in Malta and became a strong competitor to the Darmanin family. This resulted in Carlo focusing on papier-màchè works to become the best known local statuarian in the second half of the 19th century.
In 1848, Carlo married Annette Ready, a Maltese, born to Scottish parents. The Darmanin family later moved to Ħamrun where Carlo’s workshop was situated. They had a very large family as was the custom in those days.
Everyone used to be amazed at the beautiful faces Darmanin would sculpt, especially the faces of Our Lady, of Angels, and of women in the Old Testament. He would use his wife and children as models for his statues. In addition he would also use special moulds which could have been imported from Italy, where his father had good connections due to his marble company.
Carlo became known as the Prince of Maltese statuaries. He would work papier-màchè in the Maltese traditional way, with some unique characteristics. His statues were usually made in a purist style with a hint of romanticism. Importance was given mostly to the devotional aspect of the figure. Many of his statues bore pretty-looking faces, life-like expressions and good postures. He also knew how to treat clothing for his figures, extremely well.
Among his numerous works, Carlo sculpted many titular, secondary and Good Friday statues.
One notable statue was that of Saint Margaret completed in 1863 for the village of Sannat. It depicted the Saint during her martyrdom, revealing parts of her body. The bishop at the time Msgr. Camilleri, thought it was too profane and had it banned. As a result another statue was brought over from France in 1891, carried out by the Marseillian company Gallard et Fils Statuerie.
Along with titular statues still venerated and used in processions today, we find the statue of Christ the Saviour (with Saint Elijah and Moses during the Transfiguration), found in the parish church of Lija. It was made in 1864 and cost 100 pounds.
Another titular statue is that of St Cajetan found in the Parish church of Hamrun. The historian Castagna tells us that this statue was completed in 1885 and cost
twenty pounds.
The last titular statue that Darmanin made was that of St Julian found in the St Julian’s parish church. It was completed in 1893 and cost twenty-six pounds.
In Qrendi we find the secondary statue of Our Lady of Lourdes that was sculpted in 1878, twenty years after the apparition of Our Lady to St Bernardette.
Darmanin also made several Good Friday statues including seven of a set of nine Good Friday statues found in the Parish church of Mosta. These are Christ in the garden of Gethsemane, Christ bound to the column, Christ crowned with thorns, Christ the Redeemer, Veronica (wiping the face of Jesus), the statue of the Crucifixion and the statue of Our Lady of Sorrows. For the Vittoriosa Parish church he made a statue of Christ the Redeemer and for the parish church of Cospicua he made another statue of Christ in the garden of Gethsemane.
Darmanin also produced several statues venerating Our Lady of the Rosary, for Mellieha, Naxxar, Zurrieq and Attard.
These are just a few of the many illustrious works made by Carlo Darmanin.
In November 1909, a brilliant artistic career came to an end with the demise of Carlo Darmanin. This sculptor contributed greatly to the development of popular religious art in our country and through him the art of papier-màchè took on a new appreciation in Malta.
Darmanin’s work was continued by his pupils Carmelo Mallia known as “il-Lhudi“and Joseph Cilia known as “il-Bellettu”, who both continued to use his style and moulds in their work, at the beginning of the twentieth century.
One must not fail to mention that Darmanin made several statues for our streets and village squares that get adorned during village feasts. Furthermore five towns in Malta have streets named after him in his honour. These are found in Qrendi, Lija, Mosta, Kirkop and Hamrun, towns which are all proud of Carlo Darmanin’s works.
On a final note I would like to thank all those whose information I used to compile this article especially Albert Micallef and Victor Caruana.