The Malta Independent on Sunday
The Medieval Pala D’altare of Qormi and its intended restoration: a plea
Joseph F. Grima A visitor to St George’s Parish Church at Qormi cannot fail to notice the medieval titular painting of the side altar of Our Lady of Sorrows. What many visitors don’t know is that this painting is actually the central panel of a dismembered pala d’altare, or retable, that is approximately dated to the middle of the 15th century. This central large panel, depicting the Lamentation for Christ, was formerly flanked by two side panels representing St George and St Gregory and surmounted by a wooden painted crucifix. The two side panels are nowadays housed in the parish museum while the crucifix overlooks the choir altar. Thankfully, all four components have survived.
In medieval times, it was customary that the parish’s titular retable would represent Our Lady while the actual titular saint would be depicted on one of its flanking panels. This pala d’altare at Qormi was one such titular retable and remained in situ till 1632 when it was replaced by Gaspare Formica’s large rendering of St George overcoming the Dragon. It is very probable that this medieval retable found its way to Qormi when, during the rectorship of Don Giglio Lombardo, the parish church was rebuilt or extensively enlarged in 1456. The choice of the depiction of Our Lady of Sorrows or La Pietà, is significant when taking into consideration what was evolving on the European mainland with regard to this aspect of Mariology. Its extensive propagation dates from the 13th century onwards with 1423 being the year that recorded the earliest known feast of La Pietà. The Qormi painting is securely stylistically dated to only 30 to 40 years after this date, thus making it the oldest existing depiction of La Pietà on the Maltese islands.
One readily understands why a crucifix surmounted the retable and why St George is depicted in one of the side panels but, since there doesn’t seem to have been any particular devotion to St Gregory in the parish, his inclusion in the second side panel cannot be satisfactorily explained. However, retables could be the work of more than one artist and panels could be substituted, especially if there happened to be shifts in cultic devotions. In this case, the style and technical evidence of the three panels and the crucifix point to a workshop/s based in Sicily that was/were not just active in the first half of the 15th century but also combined a number of artistic influences: Early Renaissance, International Gothic and Byzantine traditions.
The large panel of the Lamentation for Christ depicts the sorrowing Madonna with the dead Christ on her lap flanked by Mary Magdalene and St John the Evangelist kissing His hands and, backing them, there are Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea and Veronica together with some Passion emblems. The painting, whose artist displays knowledge of International gothic and an awareness of Flemish art, is quite poignant in a Byzantinesque way. The crucifix, painted in the Italian Gothic tradition, seems to be the only one of its kind to have survived in Malta though similar crucifixes are extant in European churches and museums.
The two side panels were produced at the same time that the central panel was painted but, very probably, by a different artist and quite possibly through a different workshop also active in Sicily. St George is presented fighting the dragon in full armour, medieval and not Roman, on a prancing horse while the princess prays for her deliverance through his victory. St Gregory is painted encased in full pontifical regalia but having, in the background, a saint who is popularly said to be St Venera. Both paintings are depicted in a completely International Gothic idiom.
The ravages of time have taken their toll on the paintings, an unavoidable occurrence that has certainly not been helped, over the years, by inept restoration, over-painting and abrasions with the last intervention in 1919-20 by Lazzaro Pisani. The St George panel has been heavily over-painted (vide the sky), St Gregory’s pontifical cope seems to have been a later addition while the central depiction, tempera on panel, has been heavily retouched with oils. Undoubtedly, all four components are in need of proper, professional restoration.
After restoration, ideally, the four components would be joined together again to be presented just as they had existed in medieval times up till c.1651 when the retable was dismembered. The parish’s wish is to undertake this project but lacks the financial resources to ensure that the panels are brought back to their former pristine condition and glory through professional restoration. Being one of the oldest retables in the Maltese islands, this pala d’altare is most certainly part and parcel of the Maltese national heritage and very worthy of preservation. It is earnestly hoped that public-spirited generous individuals and institutions that have the Maltese artistic heritage to heart will be ready to contribute to such a worthy cause. The respected Professor of History of Art Mario Buhagiar, who has written at least four times about this retable in his publications, has categorically declared that this pala d’altare deserves “to be counted among Malta’s finest Late Medieval paintings” and continues by stating that the Crucifix “deserves much better recognition as one of the masterpieces of Late Medieval art surviving in Malta”. Acknowledgement: Prof. Mario Buhagiar
Historian Dr Joseph F. Grima is a member of the Qormi Good Friday Committee and was formerly the Honorary Secretary of The Malta Historical Society