More on Malta

Lorraine McMahon, John Pontifex and Portia Borrett

The final few days of our visit to Malta have been occupied by a comprehensive tour of Malta’s most important churches and shrines, with a healthy smattering of more tourist-y sites thrown in for good measure. Malta is a paradise for lovers of the Baroque due, for the most part, to Malta’s complex history of invasion and occupation and its role as the headquarters for the Knights of St John, and aided greatly by a very serious earthquake late in the seventeenth century. As a dyed in the wool medievalist (a leftover from my former life), I generally struggle with the drama, ostentation and the ‘in-your-face’ showmanship commonly encountered in baroque art and architecture. However, I have found that this sumptuous, OTT style has grown on me over the years. These days I can even admit to a deep appreciation for a baroque church done well. And Malta has a number of these. The most impressive has to be the Co-Cathedral of St John in Valletta. As the seat of the Order of St John and with each branch (or langue) of the order vying with the others to produce the most sumptuous and opulent chapel, the Co-Cathedral is a true masterpiece.

The interior is constructed entirely in the native limestone. It is soft enough to work with extreme precision and I was amazed at the delicacy of the surface carvings. Their state of preservation was also excellent, no doubt because the use of single worked pieces of stone avoids a lot of the most common reasons for decay and dilapidation; there are no missing or damaged bits as one might expect to find if the relief work were executed in wood and then applied to the stone surface.  Maltese limestone is a lovely butter-y colour; this is not apparent in the Co-Cathedral with its heavily gilded and polychromed surfaces, but it appears to great effect at the Shrine of Ta’Pinu on the neighbouring island of Gozo. This beautiful church is infused with the most beautiful light: clear, gentle and very calming.

Aside from our ACN pilgrimage, we also visited some other sites including two of Malta’s prehistoric complexes. The use of the same limestone and so many similar architectural solutions—dome-like ceilings, rounded and elliptical chambers and mensa-like altars—reminded me of the deep roots of our architectural heritage. The forms that we prefer to find in our chapels and churches are deeply reminiscent of the sorts of sacred spaces that were in use long before the first Christian chapel was constructed.

In the midst of all of this pilgrimage and sight-seeing I managed to befriend a good number of ACN staff from offices in other parts of the world. Marc Fromager, Javier Menéndez Ros and Herbert Rechberger, the National Directors of the French, Spanish and Austrian ACN offices, were great fun and I was interested to learn a bit about how they run their operations and what works in their countries when it comes to raising awareness and funding. I also spoke to the directors of offices in Belgium and Canada, and I struck up a good rapport with Declan, the National Director for the Irish office. We are thinking about events and pilgrimages that we might be able to work on together.

As if all of this weren’t enough, I feel perhaps most blessed by the chance to spend some concentrated time with my new ACN colleagues (‘buddies’ might be a better word now!). Portia was there, along with Scottish Lorraine and John Pontifex. Working on my own is isolating, but experiences like this trip remind me that I am a part of a team. Shared memories and stories go a long way to making me feel a part of things. I am so grateful to have had this chance to establish those crucial connections. Special thanks to Neville Kyrke-Smith, the UK National Director, for organizing such a great week and for thinking to include me.

Monday is back to work at home…maybe I should think about redecorating my dining room. A bit of a trompe-l’oeil dome effect might not go amiss…

Thanks for reading!  Caroline