The parish church of Żebbuġ, an annotated art-historical study, based primarily on the writings of Salv Caruana

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to make a qualified and an artistic appreciation of the works of art residing in the parish church of St. Philip of Aggira at Żebbuġ. This thesis could not have been possible without the extensive research made by Rev. Salv Caruana. Rev. Salv Caruana was born in 1920, at Żebbuġ. As a boy, he was educated in the Government School in his own hometown and completed his education at the Archbishop's Seminary, Floriana where he was ordained a priest in 1947. Salv Caruana made his pastoral work in the parish church of St. Philip of Aggira and he was also appointed procurator of the church. Through his intervention, and with the help of other people, the high altar was garnished with four silver statuettes representing the Four Apostles, commissioned to Francis Xavier Sciortino. In 1955 Salv Caruana started to teach in Government and Church primary schools until 1958, the year when he became a teacher in the Lyceum at Ħamrun and taught till 1981. When Salv Caruana was procurator of the church, 1950s, he often had to refer to the manuscripts in the archive to acquire information about accounts and plans concerning the church. He immediately realised that these manuscripts were of extreme importance for the history of the parish church of Żebbuġ, and the history of the town itself. Salv Caruana has accumulated a considerable number of information, especially when considering the artistic importance of certain objets d'art, sculptural embellishment, paintings and tapestries. He wrote several important articles and contributes yearly in the XII May booklets, published for the feast of St. Philip. In the course of his research, which became more intensified each passing year, Salv Caruana was able to help the Żebbuġ parishioners in the appreciation of the church. Presently he is very helpful to modern scholars and art history students in the study of Maltese history of art. Notwithstanding the aforesaid, there has not yet been a holistic and exclusively artistic study of the history of church, although Salv Caruana had already contributed to various publications as for instance the eastern apse decorations and Francesco Vincenzo Zahra' s lateral paintings and other studies. Most of the information in this thesis derives from Salv Caruana's unpublished sources, many of which explain certain alterations or changes that occurred in the church during the years. This study aims to place Salv Caruana' s writings in an artistic context, as well as to recover and record much of his important documentary information. Due to neglect over the years, much of the latter has not been properly referred or temporary lost. Hence, my roles, apart from giving the works their proper artistic admiration, was to research through Salv Caruana' s writings and recover a substantial number of convincing documents in the parish archives, formerly researched by him. This was a painstaking task and had it not been for Salv Caruana' s aid, these could not have been recovered and listed in this thesis. As an annotated art-historical study, I have given particular attention to various unpublished paintings, church furniture and statues present in the church of Zebbug. In addition, by verbal communication with Salv Caruana, I have reviewed and took valuable sources from Salvatore Ciappara's Storia del Zebbug. The latter is perhaps one of the most reliable sources to have a complete knowledge of the development of the church and the town till the late nineteenth century. This, as brought to my attention by Salv Caruana, means a better comprehension of its improvements and commissions. In fact, the clergy and the parishioners of Zebbug always sought for the most competent artists, architects and silversmiths on the island and abroad. The latter may be especially perceived in the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It is possible that some of the works of art in the church are subject to further study; this concerns mainly some of the paintings in the sacristy as well as other precious objets d' art. However, I believe that due to this study and the learning collaboration with Salv Caruana, further studies will be carried out, at Zebbug as elsewhere.