Conti's two historical paintings in Gozo

Abstract

Sometimes, distracted in my prayers, I stand and stare at them. With all my heart I covet them - those two paintings, glowing with history and art, by Professor Gian Battista Conti of Rome (1), on the lateral apses at St. George's Parish Basilica in Gozo. These two paintings are a clear evidence that Conti is a painter of history. He faithfully reproduces two historical episodes - the Moorish Invasion of Malta in the 15th Century and the delivery of Gozo from the plague of 1675. While the first one depicts a grim but triumphant hour on the bastions of Mdina, the other shows the peaoe of heart of our deeply religious folk when Gozo was spared the ravages of disease. Hard military life in one is set in vivid contrast with the quiet social life of two centuries later in the other. While one shows man's struggle for freedom in defence of Faith and Country, the other clearly portrays man's gratitude to the Creator and Sustainer of Life, with death kept at bay. [excerpt]