Remembering De Paule’s Paola : Raffael Bonnici Calì’s visual reconstruction of a lost landscape

Abstract

The Musical Society De Paule, the band club of Paola, has recently acquired a canvas painting depicting Grand Master Antoine de Paule. Raffael Bonnici Calì, a distant relative of the renowned Maltese artist Giuseppe Calì, signs the work.

Carmelo Falzon of Paola, who for some time also served as president of Hibernians Football Club, originally commissioned the painting as a decorative feature for his residence at the corner of Tarxien Road and Luqa Road. There, it was prominently displayed on the central landing of the staircase. The painting subsequently passed to his daughter, Mary, who married into the Agius family. Thanks to the efforts of Mr Gordon Dalli, on behalf of Partitarji De Paule, the painting was acquired from Mary’s son, Anton Agius, and was later donated to the De Paule Band Club. Measuring 218 x 146 cm, the painting is a work of considerable quality. It was executed in 1969 and bears the Latin inscription “Raff. Bonnici Calì pinxit 1969”, meaning “Raff. Bonnici Calì painted it in 1969.”