The Malta Independent on Sunday
St Margaret College Secondary School Verdala Cospicua students get in touch with Maltese Cultural Heritage in the city of Valletta
On 21 November a group of Form 5 students from St Margaret College Senior Secondary School Verdala, Cospicua ventured on a cultural excursion in Valletta. Students were accompanied by teacher Martin Azzopardi sdc and Joanne Dalli. Also the school Spiritual director, Fr Carmelo Spiteri ocd joined the group for part of the excursion.
Azzopardi sdc said: “This cultural venture experience in Valletta was another opportunity for our school students to get more in touch with our rich culture and history while appreciate our national treasures. Throughout this cultural experience we teachers realised how much alien to our students are the symbolic meanings of our architectural cultural heritage.”
To reach Valletta students made use of the ferry boat transport using tal-Linja card which they found very convenient and worth using. On arriving in Valletta, students were taken in front of Auberge de Castille to appreciate the most beautiful Baroque façade in Valletta. Then they were taken to visit Our Lady of Victory chapel close to Auberge de Castille. Inside the chapel students could admire the old icon of Our Lady and understand the symbolic meaning of the baroque interior of the chapel which has been recently restored to its original state.
Afterwards, students went to visit the Con-Cathedral of St John where they could compare the simplicity of the Mannerist façade with the rich decorated Baroque interior of the church. Inside the Con-Cathedral, students had a clear understanding of the baroque meaning of symbolic features in architecture. They also learnt to compare the different baroque artists like Mattia Preti and Stefano Erardi while understanding the secret messages behind baroque paintings. Then students were taken inside the Oratory Museum of the Con-Cathedral where they got acquainted with the beautiful Light/Dark technique and sense of tragedy adopted by Michelangelo Da Caravaggio in his paintings.
The final destination of this cultural venture experience in Valletta was the Muza (the National Art Museum) situated in the Auberge of Italy of the Knights of Malta. Inside Muza students had the chance to walk through the ages and appreciate the artistic treasures found inside our National Art Museum. Students learnt the symbolic meanings adopted in the Gothic,
Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo period and were able to compare. They also had the chance to understand the creativity of Maltese artists of the Realist and Futurist period where the Maltese sculptor Antonio Sciortino is the highlight.
At the end of this cultural trip in Valletta students were asked to reflect upon those points which they assimilated in particular. Here are some of the student’s reflections:
“I learnt that the sense of tragedy adopted by the Caravaggio in his works of art reflects his shattered childhood where at a young age he lost his parents” by students Maya Nussbaum and Danielle Urban;
“Stefano Erardi adopts the rosy cheek technique in his paintings plus a taste of strong red colour” by student Garner Buttigieg;
“Mannerism adopts a simple style because to God the beauty is not on the outside sphere but in the inside” by student Hayley Mizzi;
“The three main secrets of the Baroque are: Symmetry = God is Perfect, Decorations = God is Awesome and Light Colours = God is the Light of the World” by student Jasmine Farrugia;
“Mattia Preti, the painter of the Knights of Malta makes use of the three positions of the hands (upwards, half-way through and upwards) in his paintings to reflect the perfection of the Holy Trinity” by student Elisa Bugeja;
“I got to know the meaning of the initials D.O.M. on many tombstones which means: Deo optimo et maximo (God the Best and Greatest)” by student Hayley Camilleri;
“Antonio Sciortino’s work of art is influenced by the sense of movement used in Realism and Futurism” by student Ylenia Azzopardi;
“While appreciating the beauty of a Roman statue inside Muza, I understood the meaning of the word: ‘sincere’ which derives from the Latin words: ‘sine’ and ‘cera’ – meaning ‘no wax’ is used in the statue so it is sincere!!!” by student Cody Parnis;
“On appreciating Guido Reni’s painting of Jesus holding the Cross we came along the meaning of the word: ‘pentimento’ where the artist corrects his artistic mistakes within his own painting” by student Sarah Fiorini;
“On observing Gothic icons and Renaissance paintings, I understood the meaning of the golden background which means: incorruptible – sense of the Kingdom of Heaven” by student Kylie Bonnici.
Written by Sarah Fiorini and Maya Nussbaum Students at St Margaret College Senior Secondary School, Verdala, Cospicua,