New light on Petronilla, the oldest bell in Malta

Abstract

Maltese links with Venice go back at least to the second half of the fourteenth century. Malta's oldest bell. Petronilla - christened as such in the seventeenth century in honour of St Peter - was commissioned in 1370 for the Late Medieval cathedral at Mdina that no longer survives. This recently restored bell comes from a Venetian foundry in the area known as Calle dei Fabbri whose collaborators were Victor and his uncle and brother who had the same name, Nicolaus or Nicola. This same foundry produced the 1358 bell at the Verona cathedral by Victor and his father Vincenzo which was commissioned by a member of the notable Scala family. Therefore it was a well-informed choice that brought about the commissioning of the Maltese bell from Venice an item of distinguished execution that was to be part of the embellishment programme of Malta's most important Late Medieval building. [Excerpt]