Heritage Malta is hosting seven works in salt which depict great works by Caravaggio at the Inquisitor’s Palace in Vittoriosa. The works represent episodes from the passion and Resurrection of Christ plus a portrait of St Jerome. The works were produced by members of the Police Force and were originally on display at the Police Headquarters.

The works were produced through a painstaking process in which a tray is first filled with salt to a thickness of around 1.5cm. The salt is levelled to a uniform plane and a pantograph grid scratched onto the surface. The artists then produce a line drawing of the painting working to scale which is then covered with salt mixed with powder colour pigment.

The seven works on display are The Taking of Christ, The Flagellation of Christ, The Ecce Homo, Entombment, Supper at Emmaus, Doubting Thomas and St Jerome.

The works on display were produced by Mario Ebejer and Pierre Bugeja and the exhibition at the Inquisitor’s Palace was made possible through a collaboration between Heritage Malta and the Police Force.

Caravaggio in Salt is one of the many activities that Heritage Malta is organising to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Caravaggio’s stay in Malta. These events also include a concert by Claire Baluci on 23 June, a heritage trail focusing on Caravaggio and a number of other exhibitions.

Caravaggio in Salt can be visited from Monday to Sunday between 9am and 5pm at the Inquisitor’s Palace in Vittoriosa.