Treasures is edited by Giovanni Bonello who has just been awarded a D.Litt. (Honoris Causa) by the University of Malta.

I have been unable to go and collect my copy from the offices of The Malta Independent so I am only now looking briefly at the Christmas 2022 edition. It is a rich and generous edition.

Let me give you two quotes which I particularly like from Judge Bonello's editorial. I believe editorials are important and always try to read them. Here is the first quote: "The cultural health of the Maltese Islands has for long been characterised by acute schizophrenia - on the one hand, an intense craving for a philistine destruction of heritage, for the promotion of disagreeable aesthetics and for the shaming of artistic advancement; on the other, some timid oasis of initiatives of heritage assertion, struggling to survive in aggressively encroaching deserts of uglification and devastation." So true. So elegantly put.

The editor then goes on to list the various initiatives taken not only by Heritage Malta but also by various other bodies to continue to preserve and restore what remains. Possibly the most important restoration work going on thanks to millions coming from European funds is the regeneration of the Grand Master's Palace in Valletta.

Here is a quote from the end of the editorial: "The last issue of our journal, the special bumper number to celebrate the thirty years of our Foundation's activity, was very positively received by our subscribers and the public in general. This - the first venture with Kite Group aims at the same dizzily high standards, the same varied contents and the same targets of excellence. We are happiest when our readers are at their most exacting, and when our critics prove merciless."

And so for a peep into the actual content of the Christmas issue of Treasures.

The cover is a painting by Giuseppe Arcidiacono (1908-1997). Still life with Christmas flowers, books and a candlestick, watercolours, signed and dated, 1936.

 I have always liked Arcidiacono's art. I was at school with his two daughters and we came and went to each other's homes. I remember his paintings very well and remember him too, a quiet and unassuming man. Sometimes his paintings made an appearance in their huge show rooms in Msida (now lying there unused) together with furniture, for his father was a cabinet maker and Peppino inherited the craft. They lived 'on top of the shop'.

I have always admired the Auberge d'Italie which at one time housed the General Post Office and the Malta Tourism Authority. It now houses our national art collection and is known as MUZA, an acronym. Dr Sandro Debono in his article 'In segno di gratitudine ed affetto'. The marble frontispiece on the main entrance to the Auberge d'Italie, discusses new insights related to the authorship, provenenance and use of marble on the façade of this auberge, one of Valletta's most prominent buildings. The author goes into great detail. A friend once advised me: 'When you walk in Valletta you have to make it a point to look upwards as that is where the true gems of architecture lie." This is so true of the Auberge d'Italie. Seeing the detailed photos produced with the article I cannot wait to go to Valletta and take a closer look at the façade and especially the sculpture of the then newly elected Grand Master Gregorio Carafa. I shall look at it with new eyes and then have lunch at the restaurant, now or soon in the lovely courtyard.

Another article which caught my eye as I was browsing through Treasures was an article by Prof. Louis Laganà The Unfamiliar Sculptures of Ganni Bonnici (1932-2019). I know that Bonnici is well known for his monumental sculptures possibly the most famous the Independence one at the entrance to the Mall. But in this article the well-known art critic analyses so brilliantly and in great detail Bonnici's interesting and sometimes unusual smaller sculptures which were not commissioned. Anyone interested in Bonnici's work must read this article. It is a different aspect to Bonnici's work and I would go so far as saying, that it is a look into his soul.

So many articles, so little space. Prof. Arnold Cassola writes about Antonio Cassar: an unknown Maltese 'architectore' in 17th century Scicli.

Our old German 'friend' Thomas Freller who has published over 30 books and is such a familiar name in Malta, speculates on the possible masonic connections of some enigmatic carved limestone slabs from a French cemetery in Gozo. This is another long and well-illustrated article.

I remember Mons. Edwardo Coleiro well at the University of Malta. What comes to mind is a tall and stately man wearing a huge dress ring. Rev. Nicholas Joseph Doublet renders homage to him.

Another very long article - 20 and almost a dissertation - Charles Debono, the curator of the National War Museum, covers 3,500 years of history in his Warriors, Garrisons, Militias and Fortifications in Malta Through the Ages (2000 BCE - 533 CE). Just imagine the numbers of years spent in archives and  libraries to come up with that.

Guillaume Dreyfuss and Charlene Jo Darmanin article is called Augumented Memories: Embodying history and processes from layers to elements. I have to admit that I have not read the article.

Dr Robert Thake writes in the series My Favourite Object. His is his copy of Geronimo Marulli's Vite de Gran Maestri published in Naples in 1636. Dr Thake writes that the book was once owned by the French magistrate, François-Auguste de Thou (c1607-1642). "Marulli's Vite is not especially remarkable though it does have a lovely, engraved titlepage with a little known miniature map of Malta at the bottom right corner. In conjunction with its provenance, however, the book is thrilling." Dr Thake then goes on to tell us why this is his favourite book in his collection so far and something about its previous owner, a fascinating story. A beautifully bound book far from the world of the paperback.

Roger De Gaetano contributes a short article: Drawing Meaning to Drawings in which he writes about what is probably a preparatory sketch by Antoine Favray for his  well known painting Portrait of a Maltese Noble Lady with her Grandson.

There are other contributions. Most useful of all is a Subject Index to the illustrations in Treasures of Malta, Vol. XXVIII by Dr Paul Xuereb.

I am endlessly fascinated by the hard work that goes behind Treasures of Malta. Long may it thrive.

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