Żabbar Sanctuary Museum

Żabbar Sanctuary Museum is a museum in Żabbar, Malta.

History

When Mgr. Joseph Zarb was appointed Parish Priest of Żabbar in 1943, he realised how rich the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Graces was in terms of historical artefacts. Being a researcher and a scholar, he became aware that many precious artifacts such as banners, sails, anchors, weapons, slave chains, model ships, church vestments, altar fronts and votive paintings, all listed in old inventories, were now lost forever, most probably due to neglect and underestimation of their importance. These were all offerings to Our Lady of Graces from people coming from all walks of life. To halt the unintentional destruction of more precious patrimony, Mgr. Joseph Zarb thought of opening a Museum to house and preserve what remained. In 1952 he did plans for a new building adjacent to the church where to exhibit these artifacts. The corner stone of this building was laid on 2nd September 1952. Difficulties from the authorities on the esthetical design of the museum arose, but eventually the permit was approved. On the 5th September 1954 the Museum was officially opened by Dr. Jackie Frendo Azzoppardi and blessed by Mgr. Emmanuel Galea. This Museum was the first parish museum after the cathedral museum and is the first (and to date the only one) building in Malta purposely built to house a museum. In 2003 the museum was reopened after being refurbished and modernised by parish priest Fr. Anton Cassar.

Exhibits

The exhibits consist of donations to the museum by individuals, artifacts not anymore used in the Sanctuary, artifacts bought by auction and paintings that were removed from the Sanctuary. Some of the important exhibits in the museum are:

• 84 ex-voto paintings, with 74 of them that are maritime related. This collection comprises the largest number of ex-votos in Malta that are given by the Knights of St. John.
• Two sedan chairs one used by Grand Masters Rafael and Nicolas Cottoner and the other by Grand Master Hompesch who donated it to the Sanctuary with two paintings and a Maltese Clock exhibited in the museum and a full ceremonial knight’s suit of armor decorated by aqua fortis technique.
• A contemporary painting of the carrack Santa Anna, and a naval school model of the San Gioacchino ship of the line of 1767.
• A medieval fresco of Our Lady of Graces found in St. Dominica’s chapel in Żabbar, a unique plague hearse of 1813 and a collection of medals and coins.
• A room dedicated to the Vulcan XM 645 memorial which exploded over Żabbar in 1975 and WW2 artifacts.
• A library of various literatures is also available.

Paintings

Various works of art are exhibited in the museum, most of them with a religious theme as formerly they were in the Sanctuary. The paintings include works by Rocco Buhagiar, Gian Nicola Buhagiar, Rafel Bonnici Cali, Michele Busuttil, Tousaint Busuttil, Giuseppe Calì, Giuseppe Maria Caruana, Giovanni Battista Conti, Giuseppe D'Arena, Stefano Erardi, Rafael Gagliardi, Tommaso Madiona, Mattia Preti, Italo Horatio Serge, Filippo Venuti and Francesco Zahra. Other paintings in the museum where donated by individuals, two of them are the 1683 Battle of Vienna, and one showing the port of Messina in the 18th century. Also there are bozzettos of paintings in the Sanctuary.

Administration

The museum is owned by the parish of Żabbar. A commission of 6 volunteers with the current parish priest as president runs the everyday needs of the museum. These include the upkeep and restoration of the artifacts. The parish and public donations which go directly to the upkeep of the museum and its exhibits comprise all the income of the museum. A group of volunteers keep the museum open every day between 9.00 am and noon.

External links

• Żabbar Sanctuary Museum page