Casa Manresa : its history and art collection

Abstract

Casa Manresa (now the Archbishop’s Curia) was completed in 1751 and opened in 1753 by Pier Francesco Rosignoli (1690–1775), a Jesuit priest born in Novara, Italy (Fig. 1). Constructed to serve as a retreat house on the edge of the Floriana plateau, its building commenced in 1743 on land bought from proceeds accruing from the sale of a house that Balì Fra' Giovanni Battista Spinola (c.1668–1737) had bequeathed to the Jesuits1 for use as a retreat house for both clergy and laity.2 The edifice, attributed to the architect Andrea Belli (1703–1772),3 reflects the architectural tendencies of the time when the Baroque style had reached its peak and had developed into the Rococo style. It was built in what was then still ‘un luogo assai solitario, ed insieme vicino, e comodo per andarvi’.4 Its founder, Rosignoli, had been called to Malta by Grand Master Ramon Despuig (r. 1736–1741), and arrived here on 20 August 1740.