The fourth centenary of Mattia Preti’s birth is providing the backdrop for a lecture on Saturday 2 February at St Publius Church in Rabat, adjacent to the Collegiate Church of St Paul.  This lecture, starting at 7.30pm, is part of the Agape Festival, a new festival in Rabat which opens with this lecture and will end with a grand concert of sacred music by the Paulus orchestra at St Paul’s Church on 9 February.

The one hour power-point lecture will open with four pieces of sacred music, played by Dr Fiorella Fenech Vella on the organ and sung by soprano Charlene Portelli.  

Organised by the Paulus orchestra commission in collaboration with Heritage Malta, this lecture is going to delve deeper into some of Preti’s works with a special emphasis on those which are found in Rabat’s churches, museums and convents.

The main speaker is going to be Mons. John Azzopardi, curator of the Wignacourt Museum who will be joined by Prof. Keith Sciberras, one of the authors and the co-ordinator of the acclaimed book ‘Mattia Preti: The triumphant manner.’ 

Born in Taverna, Calabria, in 1613, Mattia Preti emerged as a leading proponent of the forceful Baroque of mid-17th century Italy as he honed his skills in a tradition which brilliantly captured the characteristics of monumental dynamism and theatrical appeal. An extraordinary draughtsman and painterly virtuoso, he was quick with his brush and produced hundreds of pictures which spanned a career of some seventy years.  His life-story can be easily divided in an early training period in Rome, his mid-years in Naples, and the nearly four decades that he spent on the islands between 1661 and his death in 1699.  Though, his stay in Malta is most noted for his work at the Knights Conventual Church, his circle of admirers grew beyond the confines of the Knights of Malta as other towns, villages and private patrons were attracted to his work.