Zabbar Sanctuary Museum
Museum to the Zabbar Parish Church – The Church of the Madonna of Graces
I’m delving further into the Baroque Heritage of Malta this week at Zabbar Sanctuary Museum. The town of Zabbar grew out of nearby Zejtun as the population of Malta increased significantly during the rule of the Knights. It became a parish in 1615 and was elevated to the status of city in 1797, under the last Grandmaster of Malta, Ferdinand Von Hompesch.
The church itself is majestically Baroque, it stands at one end of the main street and is quite the statement. It was originally built between 1641 and 1696 but continued to be shaped and developed, the highly ornate façade was added in 1738 and is considered to be an outstanding example of Maltese Baroque architecture.
The adjoining Sanctuary Museum is quite unique, it was founded by the parish priest Mons. Giuseppe Zarb who clearly wanted to preserve the cultural heritage of Zabbar. The museum building was specially built and opened in 1954. I paid my 2Euro for entrance and was met by museum guide, Godwin Abela, who offered to explain a little about the museum. He was great, his enthusiasm was evident and walked me around telling me the history behind the artefacts.
The ground floor is dedicated to the history around the church, the first artefact you see is a fresco that was found in the original chapel of Santa Duminka dating from around 1500, it’s quite simple and signifies the devotion to the Madonna of Graces that had already existed in the area to which the parish church is dedicated.
My attention was caught by the old baptismal font sitting on a pedestal, there’s beautiful ornate carving on the bowl and two shields. Godwin explained that these were armorial shields, I learned that a Knight’s shield always has the plain cross which comes from the order’s flag in two quarters and then the individual identification in the other quarters, in this case, the arms of Grandmaster Wignacourt on the left hand shield. You often see armorial shields on buildings in Malta, I’m starting to see how significant this iconography must have been in visual identification of Knight’s territories, what we’re generally blind to nowadays, must have been blatant signifiers in their time.
Confraternities are composed of members of the laity who take up duties within the church, these organisations can be found across Europe, they also have a presence in Malta and shoulder quite a lot of the organisational work that goes on behind the putting on of celebrations of feasts and specific holy days. There’s a cabinet devoted to the confraternities of Zabbar in the museum, it explains what they do and has displays of the capes and beautifully worked silver medals worn by the members during processions. It’s amazing that these traditions have survived continuously to current times.
The cabinets also house a selection of sanctuary lamps in silver, the workmanship is great, my guide was keen to point out that these were all handcrafted, there’s quite a variety of them, including a smaller, Russian, lamp dated at 1847. It’s quite exquisite and has enamels of Jesus, the Madonna and St John the Baptist decorating the centre band of the lamp. Godwin explained that Russians fleeing the revolution had sought safe harbour in Malta and this lamp had been donated to the church. It’s quite intriguing isn’t it?
You have to wonder at the history behind it but I suspect it’s rather more mundane than the romantic tales my overactive imagination may be weaving! However,I will just mention that recent archive searches show that Empress Maria Fyordorovna, mother of Nicholas II sought entrance to Grand Harbour in April 1919, just saying!
Well if you think that’s an impressive lamp, said Godwin, look at this, as he took me over to the cabinet housing the lamp and crown that are used when the church celebrates the feast of the Madonna of Graces in September. It’s enormous, as is the crown, but as Godwin explained, once hoisted into place in the church it looks much smaller! In the centre of the room, there’s a large cabinet with a magnificent silver altar and antependium. They’re all beautiful pieces worked in silver, and relatively recent, 20th century, but they show the continuing interest in working the Baroque tradition. Love it!
I couldn’t leave this floor without mentioning It-Turbu, which illustrates a, now discontinued, tradition in the church calendar. November, as in many other Catholic countries, is commemorated as the month of the dead, the Tubru used to be set up in November in the church to remind parishioners to pray for the departed. It consists of a coffin like structure which is surrounded by candles and draped in black.
There would be a ceremonial procession of the Tubru to the centre of the church and prayers to mark the occasion. The pictures below show the reconstruction in the museum with the black vestments the priest would wear and the essential tools for purification; lamp, cinder and incense holder, all in silver of course! Sometimes the Turbu also would be set up to commemorate the loss of a church leader as a tribute.
It does seem macabre and is quite overwhelming at first but the church is about all of life’s rites and passages. I liked the display, once I got over the shock, it really gives an idea of how central the church was to all of people’s lives and experiences.
On the next level there are more gems, the original workings of the first church clock are here, Godwin pointed out that they were made by hand, including all the rivets, the weights are old cannonballs. Clocks seem to be a thing in Malta, life was, of course, measured by the parish church clock, but even these days you still hear the church bells ringing out the hours. The tradition of the gilded Maltese clock has continued uninterrupted since the days of the Knights, the museum has one that was donated to the church by Grandmaster Hompesch, the design or method of manufacture hasn’t changed much to this day.
There are two sedan chairs, one that belonged to Grandmaster Hompesch, you can see his arms on the front of the coach. The red and white quarters signal he is a knight and the black crosses signal the Zabbar emblem of the fruit pruners. The other belonged to Grandmasters Nicolas and Cotoner and was donated to the museum by the founder Mons. Zarb. Godwin pointed out that you could tell they were for carrying by the presence of a holder for the carrying stick and straps for the body.
The other significant area here is the display of Ex-Voto, these are gifts that were made to the church in return for a vow granted. You can tell this from the letters painted onto the paintings, V.F.G.A. Votum Fecit et Gratiam Accepit - the vow was made and the grace received. They take different forms, there are two cases full of silver tokens, often showing the part of the body that had been healed, a number of paintings, many of which depict delivery from stormy seas.
There’s also an interesting cabinet of decorative candles that were commissioned in 1951 that are still used for the annual festa. I was very taken by these candles, one might say they’re not as sophisticated as the other artworks on display in the museum but I love their handmade nature, the carved out images are really interesting, the protective Virgo Potens, the boat in calm seas under the shining star, Stella Maris, I believe, symbolic of the Virgin protector, again. I love the vibrancy of the colours, the little wax putti, the roses worked in wax, their imperfections giving them a personal nature.
I’d really like to know more about these.
The museum is great, it’s one of those museums I love where the artefacts are still connected to the local history. Godwin obviously also lifted the lid on many items for me but, even so, the labelling is very good and you can get a really good sense of life lived in Zabbar. It’s a little off the beaten track but this little, unassuming, gem is well worth it. Oh, and the church is stunning too, but that’s a review for another day!
Check the opening times! Zabbar Sanctuary Museum
My apologies for the reflections in some of the photographs, it was a sunny day!
Rita Fennell
Gallery Tart
This was a really interesting read. The church looks absolutely gorgeous. And I love that you share such a range of different objects from the museum too.
p.s I'm definitely now imagining a few storyline about those lamps and the crown too. They really do look as if they are from a kingdom far, far away!