The artistic context of mid-nineteenth century Rome : an analysis of the milieu of Fontana’s St Philip of Agira

Abstract

The artistic context of mid-nineteenth century Rome gave birth to one of Malta’s foremost artistic treasures: the silver processional statue of St Philip of Agira for the parish church at Casal Żebbuġ. Arriving on the island in 1863, the statue was conceived and fashioned – at least in part – by the hands and mind of the painter, sculptor, and architect Luigi Fontana (1827– 1908), a pupil and close collaborator of the significant Tommaso Minardi (1787– 1871). The connection between the two intensified from the late 1850s to the early 1860s, as is clearly documented through the correspondence at the Fondo Ovidi in Rome. The statue came to forcefully underline Malta’s alignment with the artistic Catholic milieu of the Eternal City at a time when Minardi not only enjoyed great popularity and wide adulation, but also when art emanated from the very heart of Catholicism and found the unmitigated support of the Papacy – in particular in the figure of Pope Pius IX (reg. 1846–78), the last pope-king. A solid understanding of the Roman artistic context, therefore, becomes indispensable for the full understanding, meaningful analysis, and complete appreciation of the statue and its significance. [Excerpt]