Mattia Preti: Italian Baroque Artist by Kathryn Gauci

Mattia Preti: Italian Baroque Artist by Kathryn Gauci

Detail: Mattia Preti’s Self Image - a painting by the southern Italian artist acquired by Heritage Malta. Photo:Times of Malta.

Having recently returned from Malta, I was inspired the work of Mattia Preti (24 February 1613 – 3 January 1699) whose art illustrates the exuberant style of the late Baroque. He was such a prolific artist and his work defines St John’s Co-Cathedral in Valletta. Preti was born in the small town of Taverna in Calabria, Italy. He is called Il Cavalier Calabrese (the Calabrian Knight) after his appointment as a Knight of the Order of St. John (Knights of Malta) in 1660. His apprenticeship is said to have been with Giovanni Battista Caracciolo, a follower of Caravaggio. Sometime before 1630, he joined his brother Gregorio (also a painter), in Rome where he became familiar with the techniques of Caravaggio and his school as well as with the work of other masters at the time such as Rubens, Guido Reni, Giovanni Lanfranco, and other notable artists of the day.

In Rome, he painted fresco cycles in the Saint’Andrea della Valle and San Carlo ai Catinari  Between 1644 and 1646, he spent time in Venice but remained based in Rome until 1653, returning later in 1660–61. He also painted frescoes for the church of San Biagio at Modena (1651–2) and participated in the fresco decoration of Palazzo Pamphilj in Valmontone (1660–61)

 

Allegoria dell’Aria. Palazzo Pamphilj in Valmontone

 

During most of 1653–1660, Preti worked in Naples and was influenced by another prominent painter of his era, Luca Giordano. His major works include a series of large fresco ex-votos depicting the Virgin or saints delivering people from the plague, which were painted on seven city gates and are now lost - two sketches for them are in the museum in Naples, including a bozzetto of the Virgin with the baby Jesus looming over the dying and their burial parties which envisions a Last Judgement presided over by a woman. Preti also won a commission to supervise the construction, carving, and gilding for the nave and transept of  San Pietro a Maiella, along with producing a Judith and Holofernes and Saint John the Baptist, both still in Naples

 

Saint Veronica with the Veil

Such religious themes were prevalent in strong catholic countries like Italy and Malta at the time, and as a consequence he was made a Knight of Grace in the Order of St John when he visited the Order's headquarters in Malta in 1659. Preti was to spend most of the remainder of his life there. He was commissioned to paint the entire barrel-vaulted ceiling of St John’s Co-Cathedral in Valletta and transformed it into a luminous, airy space filled with angels and saints, together with a huge series of paintings on the life and martyrdom of St John the Baptist (1661–1666). His work displays the dramatic chiaroscuro – a feature that defines this period – with the colours of the Venetian and Neapolitan tradition.

 

Ceiling in St John's Co-Cathedral, Valletta, Malta

 

 

 

Altarpiece. Cathedral.

His work in the cathedral also has an unusual technique – oil on stone – and his scenes portray an immense vigour and dynamic power, almost unparalleled, even in Italy in the second half of the 17^th-Century. He used quick, zigzag brush strokes and never made preparatory drawings, preferring to go over his work to correct it.

Preti certainly must have impressed his patrons so much that he was also given the task of designing the rich, gold decorations on the walls, along with several paintings in the Oratory where we see Caravaggio’s masterpiece, The Beheading of St John the Baptist. 

 

Boethius and Philosophy. It is believed that the painting was commissioned by Andrea di Giovanni, Knight of the Order of Malta. By the early nineteenth century it formed part of the collection of the Palace of the Grand Master of the same order. Photo: Times of Malta.

 

 

Saint George and the Dragon - Chapel of the Tongue of Aragon, Catalonia and Navarre, Co-Cathedral of St. John, Valletta, Malta

 

 

Preti's largest painting in Malta in the Church of St Lawrence, Vittoriosa, is being restored thanks to BOV - the bank of Valletta.

 

In his forty years in Malta, Preti left an impressive four hundred works. He not only painted for the Order, but for parish churches in the local communities too, leaving these small villages and hamlets with  priceless works of arts. Other paintings are in private collections. His increased reputation led to an expanded circle of patrons, and he received commissions from all over Europe. Preti enjoyed a long career with a considerable artistic output. His paintings are held by many great museums, including important collections in Naples, Valletta, Palermo, and his hometown of Taverna in Calabria.

 

Calling the Apostle Matthew c. 1630-1640, 104 x 164 cm, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

 

The Concert 1630 The Hermitage Museum.

 

 Mattia Preti is buried in the Co-Cathedral in a magnificent vault alongside other Knights of the Order.

 

The Armada at Anstruther by V.E.H. Masters

Early one morning in November of 1588 the villagers of Anstruther on the East coast of Scotland awoke to find a ship in their harbour with over 250 starving Spanish Armada sailors and soldiers on board. We know this because the local minister of the time, James Melville, wrote about it in the extensive diaries he kept. 

I discovered Melville's diaries as I came to the end of writing my first book in series, The Castilians, about the 1546 siege of St Andrews Castle, sixteen miles away. Fascinated by the story of the Armada that came to the East Neuk I determined to write about it next – until fellow author Margaret Skea pointed out the length of time which separated the two events. 'A lot can happen to your characters in forty years,' she said.

And so I wrote, The Seton Chronicles, a five book series which spans the remarkable changes as the reformation took hold in Europe and has my characters fleeing for their lives through Geneva, Antwerp, Venice, Frankfurt and Constantinople. But now, in the final book in series, The Pittenweemers, I finally returned to Scotland, delving into James Melville diaries once more to explore the remarkable story of the Armada in Anstruther.

James VI of Scotland was a ten month old baby when he last saw his mother Mary Queen of Scots, who had been held prisoner by the queen of England for nineteen years. Nevertheless he corresponds regularly with Elizabeth and pleads with her to spare Mary, even suggesting that someone whose father had executed his own bedfellow should not follow suit. 

Queen Elizabeth I - Armada portrait

His pleas were disregarded and Mary, Queen of Scots was beheaded by her cousin Elizabeth of England in 1587. That a queen appointed by God should behead another queen, also appointed by God, sent shock waves around Europe. Philip of Spain, already made furious by Sir Francis Drake's piracy on Spanish ships and attack on Cadiz began to gather the largest fleet ever seen, often by 'acquiring' merchant ships within his domain. His purpose was nothing less than to conquer England.

The Pittenweemers

Scotland had been Protestant for 28 years and tales of the coming of the Spanish Armada along with rising fears about the year 1588, which had long been prophesied as catastrophic had people fearful – actually terrified would be more accurate. Here's my character Will, minister of Pittenweem, thoughts on the matter … 

It was an unusually stormy summer with a resulting poor harvest and an inevitable rise in food prices, and that, combined with the increasing rumours of various sightings of the Spanish Armada off Scotland, caused grave anxiety amid Will’s flock. Given the disquietude, Will considered it most unfortunate that there continued to be an outpouring of predictions about the significance of the year. Sitting at a board strewn with papers one morning in early August, he leaved through a discourse written by an Englishman. 

This Richard Harvey was claiming they should all expect either a dissolution or a wonderfull horrible alteration of the worlde in this year of our Lord fifteen hundred and eighty-eight. Harvey wrote in tortured tones, Will could almost hear his voice and a certain relish in his doomsaying, that the disorder would swell until it culminated in a thunderous crescendo, after which irrevocable changes would be embedded – or ‘poof’, Will flicked his fingers – the world would be consumed by a fiery cataclysm. But then, judging by what the astrologers were discovering, that was not so improbable. Comets did shoot across the sky, and what was to prevent those blazing implements of Satan from crashing into the world? And the movement of stars could and did cause an imbalance in the body’s humours – and all this was yet another way in which God punished sinners.

Will sat staring at his desk unseeing for a long time. Eventually he stood up, went out into the rain-soaked garden and gazed up at the ominous dark clouds forming and reforming above. These astronomers and astrologers were like a den of dragons blasting out burning air imputing all failings of nature, accidents of misfortune, oversights and errors to the skies and revelling in their prophecies of perdition. 

Nevertheless, his heart did quail when he thought on the most recent prophecy, which claimed that it was in this year the impact of the perilous conjunction of the planets five years ago was to be realised. Yet if the world was to be blessed by the second coming of Christ, as some prophesied, then that could only be a matter of joy – after the cataclysm. 

And James Melville writes of attending the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in Edinburgh and  how terrible was the fear, piercing was the preaching, earnest and fervent the prayers amid the abounding sighs and sobs, for if Philip took England he would likely then take Protestant Scotland.

August of 1588 and the 130 odd ships that make up the Armada are defeated by the smaller and more manoeuvrable ships under the direction of Sir Francis Drake – and the terrible storms. Around sixty ships are blown up the East coast of Scotland many foundering off Orkney, Shetland, Fair Isle, Ireland and one on Norway. Every attempt to return to Spain was thwarted and the sailors, soldiers, priests and interpreters of the Armada not unnaturally assumed that God had turned against them.

El Gran Grifón ran aground off Fair Isle with over 300 hundred men on board. The captain, Gómez de Medina (not to be confused with the overall Armada commander, the Duke de Medina Sidonia) had rescued men from other ships which sunk, in direct contravention of King Philip's orders. The few households on Fair Isle were unable to provide food for starving men and fifty died. It is of note that there's no reports of them taking from the islanders by force and the captain, known to his men as El Buen – The Good – lived up to his epithet.

                  Armada Chest, complete with complex locking system, at Traquair House

The Spanish may not have had any provisions left but they had gold. Gómez de Medina found his way to Orkney, rescued his men and acquired a ship. It was November by now and the storms had not much abated. Their ship foundered off Anstruther and Medina came ashore to seek help. Here's the scene again from the perspective of  my character Will …

Medina continued as though the interpreter hadn’t spoken. ‘His glorious grace King Philip brought together a mighty fleet and army to avenge the intolerable wrongs and grievous injustices inflicted upon the peoples of the Spanish Empire by the treacherous nation of England. But for our sins, God has turned against us, driving us past the coast of England and subjecting us to storms sent by divine providence over the past several months. Many of our ships have sunk in merciless seas or been dashed against inhospitable shores. Those few of us whom God has chosen to survive have endured bitter cold and suffered great hunger. We come here to kiss the hand of the king of the Scots ...’ Medina paused here and bowed low once more ‘... and beg of you to render us assistance.’

Will watched James Melville and sent up a prayer that he would show a true spirit of kindness, as Jesus Christ would have done.

Melville began to speak. ‘Our friendship cannot be great, seeing your king and you are friends to the greatest enemy of Christ – the Pope of Rome. Our king and we defy that son of Satan and his cause against our neighbours and special friends of England.’ Melville paused to let the translator catch up. ‘And yet we, as Christians of a better religion, are moved by compassion. A compassion that is not manifest to our merchants residing among you with peaceable intent pursuing their lawful affairs who have been violently taken and cast in prison, their goods and gear confiscated and their bodies committed to the cruel flaming fire in the cause of religion. But among us you will find nothing but Christian pity and mercy, leaving God to work in your hearts concerning religion as it so pleases Him – for we will give you assistance.’ 

And so Melville permitted two hundred and fifty men to come ashore. The people of the village were so horrified at the sight of these starving mostly young and beardless men that they ran into their houses and brought them food.

Rumour has it that James Melville was rewarded for his largesse with some of the Spanish gold – and he did build a rather large manse soon after.

Those who came ashore in Scotland and Ireland – many of whom were slaughtered as they staggered up the beaches for their clothes and 'gold' – made their way to Edinburgh, perhaps expecting a sympathetic welcome since James VI was the son of the poor beheaded Mary, even if he was a Protestant.  The Catholic leaning nobles wined and dined the captains however the men, somewhere in the region of a thousand of them including priests, were starving vagrants on the streets. Eventually ships were sent and they were re-patriated to Spain.

The Seton Chronicles

Gómez de Medina's ancestors were Jews and his grandfather was burned at the stake – a point of significance within my overall story of The Setons, since some of my characters are Conversos (Jews who were forced to convert to Catholicism). King Philip had demanded that all his captains be 'pure' but those tasked with checking this ran out of time to inquire of the Inquisitor of Seville about Medina's family background.  

Truth is so often much stranger than fiction – and this is what I love about writing historical fiction! 

V.E.H. Masters is the award winning author of the best selling series The Seton Chronicles. Her first novel The Castilians is set in her home town and tells the story of the siege of St Andrews Castle. You can find out more at https://vehmasters.com/ where three free short stories telling more of The Setons are available to download. 


References:

Armada by Colin Martin and Geoffrey Parker

The Diaries of James Melville – National Library of Scotland

Entertaining the Troops in World War II, by Carol Drinkwater

 

                   A very proud me on Remembrance Sunday, 9th November 2024, in London.

Below, I am in the company of: (left) Alan Wolven in the chair. Alan is a pianist. Now in his nineties, he is still playing. He was entertaining troops from the age of fourteen; (to my right) Suzie Cliff  was marching for her Mum, Doreen Thompson. See, she is wearing her mum's badges. Doreen entertained with ENSA. Colin Bourdiec in the splendid brown trilby, has a very mellifluous singing voice - he was humming and singing to us throughout our long cold wait before the march began. He is an entertainer who specialises in WWII material. On the far right, Steve Wolven, son of Alan.

The sashes we are wearing represent ENSA, the Entertainments National Service Association.

                                                              Remembrance Sunday 2024. 

This year of 2024 was the first time that members of ENSA, or family members of those who had entertained troops during WWII, were represented in the march on Remembrance Sunday. We were a tiny band of six but we were strode proudly for the thousands of men and women who had entertained servicemen and women while they were fighting for their country. 

On a personal level, I was marching in memory of my late father. 

Peter Albert Drinkwater (later he used the stage name Peter Regan). This photo was taken, I believe, in Palestine sometime around 1943.

One of the inspirations for much of what I have spent my life doing: working as an actress, travel writing, entertaining, came from my late father who was a musician and an agent. My father signed up with the Royal Air Force in 1940 when he was 18. He wasn't keen on the idea of weaponry, or of any kind of fighting, but he was rather taken with the possibility of entertaining the servicemen and women. "Bringing a smile to their faces." So, he took himself off to the Drury Lane Theatre in London where there were auditions being held for those who wished to join one of the entertainment corps. Because Daddy had already enlisted with the Royal Air Force, the choice available to him was Squadron Leader Ralph Reader's Gang Show entertainment troupes. Daddy auditioned and was accepted.

I am not sure he had had any previous theatrical experience, I doubt it, nothing besides a dream of going on the stage. Even so he was accepted.

Here we are again marching past the Cenotaph, wearing the sash of ENSA. It was a very memorable and moving moment. Our wreath was laid amongst the thousands of others. Red upon red, all those poppies for peace. 

Above is the same small band of six of us. This was while we were waiting to march. In the foreground of this shot is Alan Crowe who is a marvellous individual. It was Alan who managed to persuade the British Legion that representatives from ENSA should be offered the opportunity to march with those who served. Alan is also the man responsible for the raising of funds to build a memorial in honour of all those who entertained.

What is ENSA? 

ENSA is the Entertainments National Service Association. It was established in 1939 by Basil Dean and Leslie Henson (both names my father mentioned frequently during my childhood). Leslie Henson was the grandfather of the television presenter Adam Henson. ENSA was established to provide entertainment for British Armed Forces personnel during World War II. ENSA operated as part of the Navy, Army and Air Force institutes. 

There were many artistes who did not go abroad but spent their time travelling Britain entertaining in service bases, ammunitions factories or gun and balloon sites.

There were several classes of shows from the larger ones to small shows. The B shows were the lesser known stars and including performers who were not known at all.

Apologies that this photo is a little blurry. These are my father's medals. I had never really asked myself what they were awarded for until I started to write this History Girls post. The first medal, I believe, is a WWII British Africa star. Daddy would have been awarded this one because he spent all his war in Africa and the Middle East. 

Every ENSA member was awarded the Defence Medal. In Daddy's collection above, it is the third one along.

                                             Dame Very Lynn. 1917 - 2020

Dame Very Lynn, an abidingly famous ENSA artiste was a symbol of the wartime spirit, also a symbol of all that was waiting back home: wives, sweethearts, sisters, mothers. She was greatly loved and became known as the 'Force's Sweetheart'. She was awarded the Burma Star for entertaining British guerrilla units in Japanese-controlled Burma. She was also awarded the War Medal 1939 - 1945.  She and I met on many occasions later when I had started working as an actress and we were involved in various charity shows together. Vera was a truly lovely lady, modest, gracious and generous.

Daddy's War Medal is above: the fourth one along in the pic.

When my father used to recount his tales of those 'exotic' days in Africa, it all sounded such fun and gung-ho but it could also be very dangerous. 

It was compulsory for West End Stars to entertain the troops during at least one six-week tour a year. Sometimes entertainers who were not in the armed forces were sent abroad to entertain. Basil Dean worried that if any of these artistes were captured, they were at serious risk.  If they were caught and not in uniform, Dean feared they might be taken for spies, which was a very real possibility. At Dean's behest uniforms were introduced for those civilians/stars who had accepted to entertain in war zones. The uniforms consisted of standard pattern battle dress and war theatre uniforms such as Jungle Green bush jackets. The only insignia allowed on the jacket was the standard ENSA shoulder titles. Although the civilian performers had no rank, all ENSA performers were granted officer status so that they could use the mess facilities. History has it that the only artiste never to wear uniform was Tommy Trinder who, when offered the uniform, said, "No, thanks. If I get captured, I deserve to be shot!"

As far as I am aware, the only ENSA member killed in the war was a nineteen-year-old girl, a tap dancer and acrobat. Vivienne Hole performed under the stage name of Vivienne Faye. On 23rd January 1945 in Normandy, she was being driven between shows as a passenger aboard a truck carrying stage scenery which strayed into a minefield and exploded. She was buried with full military honours in the Sittard War Cemetery. What a tragic end for one so young and at such a late stage in the war.

When I was a child, RAF Gang Show reunions were held in London on an annual basis. Daddy always attended. He was immensely proud of his contribution to Ralph Reader's shows. Amongst the soldiers he performed with were Peter Sellers and Tony Hancock. Peter Sellers began with ENSA as a drummer. Later when performing with Gang Show units, he developed his extraordinary skills for improvisation. Both Sellers and my father loved to play the ukulele and I have often wondered whether they performed together. My father's ukulele, and his banjo, sit in my writing room and they a great source of comfort and inspiration.

Ralph Reader created twenty-four Gang Show units and two WAAF units. They toured and performed in almost every theatre of war from Iceland to Burma. It is believed that in total they entertained some 3,500,000 servicemen and women. Quite an achievement.

On several occasions Daddy took me along with him to a reunion and I was privileged to spot a few of the famous faces. I remember Daddy discreetly pointing people out to me. At the end of the evening, everyone would get up together and sing "On the Crest of a Wave". Written by Ralph Reader, it was the Gang Show's signature tune. I can still hear it ringing in my ears today.

Not everyone in ENSA went on to make a name for themselves in show business and not everyone was a naturally talented entertainer, but many did become stars in the world of show business.

A little joke: Because sometimes the shows were a bit of a shambles and not always entirely properly rehearsed, the troops used to joke that ENSA actually stood for, 'Every Night Something Terrible.'

As I have written above, ENSA has never been recognised at the Remembrance Day March, until this year. We little band of six were the first to march and give the salute for al those wonderful people. Also, importantly, no Memorial exists to honour all those hundreds of thousands who spent the war entertaining others, but there is a move to change this. Below is a crowdfunding site to help pay for the cost of the memorial stone and its placement. If you or someone in your family have ever been entertained by anyone from ENSA, please think of making a small donation.

I have posted the same photo twice because the first version is clearer but cuts out the gentleman standing on the left. My father is the lad giving all the ladies a piggyback. I think these 'girls' performed in the shows with Daddy, or were in military service in Africa. According to Daddy's writing on the pic, it was taken in Durham in South Africa in 1944. If anyone knows who the other man is or can recognise any of the ladies, I would be thrilled to hear from you. 

Please email me at olivefarmbooks@gmail.com

After my generation, there will be no one left to remember all these past performers if no Memorial stone is erected in their memory. There is a link below for donations. Thank you.

Also, below, is a link to an article I wrote for the Mail on Sunday Travel recounting a visit I made this year, 2024, to Alexandria in Egypt. I made the journey partly to follow in the footsteps of my father.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-13582619/Alexandria-Egypt-Carol-Drinkwater.html

My travel book The Olive Route covers many of the countries where my father was stationed in Africa and the Middle East.

https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/ensa-memorial-appeal-1202671

The London Under London by Miranda Miller

 

This is a photo of the Great Hall of the Guildhall which has been the City of London’s civic and ceremonial centre since the 12^th century.  In the Middle Ages the Lord Mayor of London was almost as influential as the monarch. The hall you see today, which dates from the early 15^thcentury, has stained glass windows, magnificent carvings and a medieval crypt.  The banners and shields of London’s 110 Livery Companies are on the walls. For six hundred years it has been the setting for state events, banquets and state trials, most famously that of Lady Jane Grey in 1553.  The 16 -year- old who was Queen of England for nine days was found guilty of high treason and sentenced to death in this hall. It survived the Great Fire of London when, as Samuel Pepys recorded, “the horrid malicious bloody flame” destroyed the roof.”  The Great Hall was also damaged in the Blitz when the ancient carvings of Gog and Magog were destroyed, but it was rebuilt yet again.  

 The Guildhall is a fascinating place to visit and, surprisingly, not too touristy. Another reason to go there is to catch a glimpse of Londinium: in 1988, after more than a hundred years of searching, London’s only Roman amphitheatre was finally rediscovered hidden beneath Guildhall Yard by Museum of London archaeologists digging in preparation for building the new Art Gallery.

 

 The curved band of dark stone on Guildhall Yard you can see in this photo marks out the perimeter of the amphitheatre beneath the piazza. The first Roman amphitheatre was built in 70CE from wood but was renovated in the early 2nd century with tiled entrances and ragstone  walls, and enlarged so that it could seat six thousand people – an astonishing number at a time when it’s estimated that the population of the city was between 45,00 and 60,000. The amphitheatre was used for public events such as gladiatorial games, entertaining soldiers and the public with fights between wild animals, public executions of criminals and also for religious ceremonies. Although these violent spectacles were sometimes criticised, particularly by the growing Christian community, they attracted huge audiences. St. Augustine, writing in the 4th century CE, describes his own reluctant excitement at these spectacles: “He opened his eyes, feeling perfectly prepared to treat whatever he might see with scorn... He saw the blood and he gulped down the savagery... He was no longer the man who had come there but was one of the crowd to which he had come.”

Here is a map of Roman London showing the amphitheatre. Londinium soon became the largest Roman settlement in Britain. There were public baths, temples, a fort, a forum, a public square surrounded by shops and an enormous hall known as a basilica. In the 2^nd century CE Tacitus describes it as “Famous for its wealth of traders and commercial traffic.” Londinium was a major centre of international trade where merchants imported luxury goods such as wine, oil, and cloth and exported raw materials and slaves. 

After the Romans left in the 4th century, the amphitheatre lay derelict for hundreds of years.  In Peter Ackroyd’s novel The Clerkenwell Tales, set in London in 1399, citizens assemble in the ruins of this building, just a few hundred yards from St Paul’s Cathedral.

 

 

 

These photos show what you actually see when you go down to the amphitheatre, with holograms designed to show you the scale and human proportions. A few months ago, I took my grandsons to see the Guildhall, which is a fascinating building in its own right. Then we took the lift down from the art gallery to the amphitheatre, a really thrilling experience. This place has been at the centre of London life for two thousand years and nobody who is interested in history could fail to be excited by this opportunity for time travel.

 

www.mirandamiller.info

My ninth novel, When I Was, about a child growing up in London in the 1950s, will be published in March by Barbican Press.