Żabbar Sanctuary Museum
| Mużew tas-Santwarju Żabbar | |
| File:Sudika Zabbar Sanctuary Museum.jpg | |
| Established | 5 September 1954 |
|---|---|
| Location | Żabbar, Malta |
| Coordinates | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
| Type | Religious museum |
| Founder | Joseph Zarb |
| President | Evan Caruana |
| Owner | Żabbar Parish |
Żabbar Sanctuary Museum is a museum in Żabbar, Malta. Its collections mainly consist of art and religious artifacts that are of historical importance.
History
When Mgr. Joseph Zarb was appointed Parish Priest of Żabbar in 1943, he realized how rich the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Graces was in terms of historical artifacts. Being a researcher and a scholar, he became aware that many precious artifacts such as banners, sails, anchors, weapons, slave chains, model ships, church vestments, altar fronts and votive paintings, which were listed in old inventories, were now lost forever, most probably due to neglect and underestimation of their importance. All these objects had been offerings to Our Lady of Graces from people coming from all walks of life. To halt the unintentional destruction of more precious patrimony, Mgr. Joseph Zarb thought of opening a Museum to house and preserve what remained.
In 1952, he made plans to build a museum adjacent to the church to exhibit these artifacts. The corner stone of this building was laid on 2 September 1952. Difficulties from the authorities on the aesthetic design of the museum arose, but eventually the permit was approved. On 5 September 1954, the Museum was officially opened by Dr. Jackie Frendo Azzoppardi and blessed by Mgr. Emmanuel Galea. This Museum was the first parish museum after the Cathedral Museum in Mdina and is the first and only one in Malta purposely built to house a museum. In 2003, the museum was reopened after being refurbished and modernised by parish priest Fr. Anton Cassar.[1]
Exhibits
The museum's exhibits consist of donations made to the museum by individuals, artifacts and paintings that were formerly located in the Sanctuary, and artifacts bought by auction. Some of the important exhibits in the museum are:[2]
- 84 ex-voto paintings, with 74 of them that are sea related. This collection comprises the largest number of ex-votos in Malta that are given by the Knights of St. John.
- Two sedan chairs one used by Grand Masters Rafael and Nicolas Cotoner and the other by Grand Master Ferdinand von Hompesch zu Bolheim who donated it to the Sanctuary with two paintings and a Maltese Clock exhibited in the museum and a full ceremonial knight’s suit of armor decorated by aqua fortis technique.
- A contemporary painting of the carrack Santa Anna, and a naval school model of the ship of the line San Gioacchino of 1767.
- A medieval fresco of Our Lady of Graces found in St. Dominica’s chapel in Żabbar, a unique plague hearse of 1813 and a collection of medals and coins.
- A room dedicated to the Avro Vulcan XM 645 memorial which exploded over Żabbar in 1975 and WW2 artifacts.
- Mahogany wood paneling from the ship RMS Alcantara.
- A library of various literature is also available.
Paintings
Various works of art are exhibited in the museum, most of them with a religious theme as formerly they were in the Sanctuary. The paintings include works by Rocco Buhagiar, Gian Nicola Buhagiar, Rafel Bonnici Cali, Michele Busuttil, Tousaint Busuttil, Giuseppe Calì, Giuseppe Maria Caruana, Giovanni Battista Conti, Giuseppe D'Arena, Stefano Erardi, Rafael Gagliardi, Tommaso Madiona, Mattia Preti, Italo Horatio Serge, Filippo Venuti and Francesco Zahra. Other paintings in the museum where donated by individuals, two of them are the 1683 Battle of Vienna, and one showing the port of Messina in the 18th century. Also there are bozzettos of paintings in the Sanctuary.
Administration
The museum is owned by the parish of Żabbar. A commission of six volunteers with the current parish priest as president directs the everyday operation of the museum, including the upkeep and restoration of the artifacts. The museum's income is from parish and public donations and goes directly to the upkeep of the museum and its exhibits. A group of volunteers keep the museum open every day between 9.00 am and noon.
References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Żabbar Sanctuary Museum. |
Literature
- Ġużeppi Theuma: The Żabbar Sanctuary Museum Żabbar 2010.
- Ġużeppi Zarb: Naval History of the Order and the Sanctuary of Żabbar, Extract from Times of Malta 30th/31st August 1951.
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