Sculptor Antonio Chircop and religious icons

Works of art, particularly those found in our churches, give us a hint of God’s beauty. Sacred art does not only manifest the capabilities of the artist, but also exalts the community’s level of faith, since the beauty of what is human leads us to reflect on what is spiritual. This was the two-pronged achievement of Senglea-born Maltese sculptor Antonio Chircop.

Religious iconography in Malta is very old, and one finds countless such works of art in our churches. However, at the beginning of the 17th century, very few parish churches thought a titular statue should figure among their art treasures. Eventually, statues of particular devotion started being carried in processions. First among these was Senglea, which since 1618 had a statue of Maria Bambina (the Nativity of Our Lady), the oldest titular statue in Malta. The custom grew more popular until it became the norm for each parish church to have a titular statue.

[attach id=783918 size="medium" align="right" type="image"]The statue of the Assumption as originally sculptured for the Qrendi parish church in 1837. Photo: St Mary’s philarmonic society, Qrendi[/attach]

During the first half of the 19th century, a group of...