Mattia Preti : faith and humanity

Abstract

MUCH PASSION AND COMMITMENT HAS GONE INTO THE MAKING OF this exhibition, that is with satisfaction that we look back over the past three years to when our journey's efforts were still unfolding, and our commitments spurred us on to bring together this exhibition. The results have been presented first in Taverna on the occasion of the IVth Anniversary from his birth falling on the 24 February and now in Malta. Dignity is perhaps the intended objective which to our great satisfaction also received the positive support of some of the major European museums including the Louvre, Prado, Musei Vaticani, Brera, Uffizi, Capodimonte and Galleria Nazionale di Palazzo Barberini amongst others. This was only possible thanks to the team effort undertaken jointly, by Museo Civico di Taverna and Heritage Malta, which way back in July 2010 undertook this multifaceted project to which very few have, nonetheless unfortunately, not responded positively. This common intent shared between Preti's two historic realities, the native city of Taverna and Malta represented by Heritage Malta, spurred us on to reap the desired results and achieve the intended objectives of this complex cultural project. We worked together as partners to highlight our common shared identity through Mattia Preti's legacy and chose to intentionally focus on the essence of Preti's art and its dialectic with his human existence as he progressed towards a spiritual maturity and theological understanding of his very own existence. [Excerpt]