Cosmana Navarra (1600-1687) : the role of a female patron of the arts in baroque Malta

Abstract

This dissertation analyses Cosmana Navarra’s role as a patron of the arts in seventeenth century Malta. Navarra spent the major part of her maturity reconstructing and embellishing the Church of St Paul at her hometown of Rabat. This was facilitated by her birth into a noble family, as well as her two marriages into affluent families. Her emergence as a matriarch in the last twenty-six years of her life gave her the opportunity to become a patron in her own right. There is no study dedicated solely to the role of women as patrons of the arts on Malta yet, thus this study was put forward in order to bridge this gap, by focusing on Navarra, who was one of the foremost patrons in her time, and the first known female patron in the Maltese Islands. The methodology employed in this study included a formal and technical analysis of the architecture and other works of art commissioned by Cosmana Navarra. This was done by quantifying the number of these works through surviving examples. Research within the archives, for contracts, wills and codicils carried out by the patron throughout her lifetime, particularly at the Notarial Archives in Valletta, were also an essential part of this study, since it guides in understanding the contracts she carried out and what she commissioned, to better understand her perseverance in acquiring the best works, especially for the Church of St Paul in Rabat. Aside from the Notarial Archives, the primary sources that were accessed also include sources from the National Library, the Archives of St Paul’s Collegiate Church, Rabat, the Archivium Archiepiscopale Melitense and the Archivum Cathedrale Melitensis. Through archival research, the biography of Navarra and an inventory of her collections are traced, together with an analysis of the mechanics of her patronage. Historical analysis of contracts and works of art, including the tracing of patronage patterns and the studying of the context, was also carried out. Research within private collections, particularly a collection of one of the patron’s heirs in Malta, was also an essential part of my scrutinization of the subject. Another imperative part of this study was the consultation with people who are knowledgeable in the topic, most prominently Mgr. John Azzopardi, who spent a large part of his life studying the life of Cosmana Navarra. The secondary sources consulted in this dissertation include writings by Rev. John Azzopardi, particularly on Navarra and the context of the Pauline Complex. Works focusing on the Pauline cult in Malta, most prominently by Mario Buhagiar, and works on the Baroque period in Malta, by Keith Sciberras, are also given prominence. Further writings on the international Baroque context, and studies on the role and imagery of female patrons of art throughout the years, both locally and internationally, were also analysed in depth. The first chapter of this dissertation discusses the published literature on this topic, together with the historical context for the making of a female patron: the historical, social, political, religious and artistic circumstances, ground within gender issues. Studies on women were followed by more recent publications, which are also discussed in more depth in the literature review in Chapter 1. Navarra’s life, family tree and social status are also analysed in this chapter. Her image as a patron of the arts is discussed in Chapter 2, in relation to the depiction of other women patrons of the arts, both locally and within the international context. Chapter 3 focuses on her role as a patron and the various artworks she commissioned for the community and for her own collection, with a special emphasis on the reconstruction and the embellishment of the Church of St Paul in Rabat. The final chapter is a catalogue of the paintings and the decorative arts commissioned by Navarra, concluding on the relevance and role that she held as a patron of the arts during this period. The aim of this dissertation is to set Cosmana Navarra within the context of a female patron during the Baroque period in seventeenth-century Malta. Navarra’s significance as the first known female patron of the arts in Malta, in relation to the general framework of patronage in Malta and Europe is also analysed. Her contribution to the development of art during this period, analysed through her artistic commissions, is also an imperative part of this study, with the hope that further studies focusing on the contribution of other Maltese female patrons emerge in the future.