Melchiorre Cafà
Melchiorre Cafà | |
|---|---|
| Melchiorre Gafà | |
Sculptor | |
| Style | Baroque |
| Parents |
|
| Relatives | Lorenzo Gafà (brother) |
Melchiorre Cafà (1636–1667), born Melchiorre Gafà and also known as Caffà, Gafa, Gaffar or Gafar,[a] was a Maltese Baroque sculptor. Cafà began a promising career in Rome but this was cut short by his premature death following a work accident. He was the older brother of the architect Lorenzo Gafà.
Biography
Cafà was born in
Cafà was already an accomplished sculptor when he came to Rome and entered the workshop of Ercole Ferrata, who was not strictly speaking his teacher although he probably helped him refining his technique. Despite soon attracting his own commissions, he stayed in close contact with Ferrata and collaborated with him.
In 1660 Cafà signed his first independent contract with Prince
There is no monument or plaque in his honour in his home city of Vittoriosa, Malta. However, the Maltese Post Office issued several stamps with Cafà's sculptures as motives.[1]
Works
Extremely busy throughout his short life, he only managed to finish a few major commissions himself:
- Wooden statue of Saint Paul in St. Paul's Shipwreck in Valletta (c. 1659).
- Wooden statue of the Virgin of the Rosary in the Dominican Church, Rabat, Malta (1660–61).
- The marble statue of the dying Ecstasy of St Theresa and possibly influenced in its turn the latter's Death of the Blessed Ludovica Albertoni, Cafà's statue depicts a peaceful death, free from the turmoil in the two works by Bernini.[2][3][4]
- Saint Sant'Agostinoin Rome (1663–69).
- The relief in white marble of the Ecstasy of Saint Catherine of Siena at Santa Caterina a Magnanapoli in Rome. The curved polychrome background is suggestive of cloud formations and of a halo, intensifying the idea that the saint is carried to heaven. There are no known dates for Cafà's intervention, but it is generally accepted that he finished it himself, i.e. 1667 or earlier. The wax bozzetto for this work was discovered by Edgar Vella in 1995 and is now in a private collection in Malta.[5]
- A bust of Alexander VII exists in an extremely fine terracotta version in the Palazzo Duomo in Siena.
A number of Cafà terracottas are in the
Most unfinished works were completed by Ercole Ferrata, e.g.:
- Martyrdom of bozzetto by Cafà for this marble relief.[5]
- Saint Thomas of Villanova distributing alms in the church of
- Marble statue of Duomo in Siena(from 1665/66).
- Marble statue of Saint Paul in St. Paul's Grotto, Rabat, Malta (1666–69).
Notes
- ^ After a long period of various spellings, international scholars of Italian baroque sculpture finally agreed on the spelling Cafà, which he himself used when signing works; cf. the book by Sciberras cited below.
- Giuseppe Mazzuoli.
References
- ^ Examples here[permanent dead link]
- ^ a b Vassallo, Alvin (15 February 2020). "Melchiorre Cafà's statuette added to Heritage Malta national collection". TVM News. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
- ^ "Melchiorre Cafà and his Golden Rose". Times of Malta. 11 February 2020. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
- ^ a b "Heritage Malta acquires Melchiorre Cafà's 'St Rose of Lima'". independent.com.mt. 22 November 2019. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
- ^ a b Edgar Vella, New Cafà bozzetto discovered, in: Times of Malta, 23 November 2014.
- ^ a b "Charity of St Thomas of Villanova". Europeana. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
- ^ George Cini (1 December 2010). "Four wax reliefs by Melchiorre Cafà discovered in Mdina". Times of Malta. Retrieved 5 December 2010.
Sources
- Rudolf Preimesberger, in: Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, vol. 16, 1973, pp. 230–235 (in Italian)
- Gerhard Bissell, in: Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon, vol. 15, 1997, pp. 493–495 (in German)
- Keith Sciberras (Ed.), Melchiorre Cafà. Maltese Genius of the Roman Baroque, Valletta 2006 (individual entries in English or Italian)
- Sante Guido, Giuseppe Mantella, Melchiorre Cafà insigne modellatore. La Natività, l'Adorazione dei pastori e altre opere in cera, Soveria Mannelli (CZ) 2010 (in Italian)
External links
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