Final 100 metres by elza

Final 100 metres

In Mosta we celebrated the feast of the Assumption of our Lady into Heaven together with six other parishes around Malta. I was going to avoid going down to the main square, as I still carry "scars" from many years ago when I was caught with very small children in a moving throng. Last minute decision and went down to the piazza to catch the final few metres of the procession with the statue. The statue has an interesting history. I found an article written by Manwel D. Schembri in "The Mosta Archives".

"As soon as the Mosta people finished building the Rotunda they started thinking about having a statue to be used for the feast of Santa Maria. They hired one of the best sculptors of that time to make the titular statue of the Assumption.

It is said that not everyone liked the idea of ​​a statue of Santa Maria, or the sculptor that was hired, or the statue itself. The sculpted statue, only wood, was placed under the portico without entering the Church and stayed there for "a long time" until it was eventually accepted. The original statue of Santa Maria was used for the first time in 1868, eight years after the Rotunda was completed. This was a beautiful work in wood worked carefully and with great skill by the sculptor Master Salvu Dimech, known as Salvu s-Sartx. The 1868 statue led the processions of Santa Maria during and between the two world wars.

At the end of the eightieth year since Salvu s-Sartx had completed his statue, it was decided that this statue would be "modified / improved". The work was given to the well-known sculptor Censu Apap (1909 – 2003). Apap used the same stem of the Sartx, but the statue was changed completely which is a real pity and also something that one cannot understand how an artist can completely destroy another artist's work."

The present statue was painted by the artist Willie Apap and was finished in 1948 and carried in procession for the first time on August 8th of the same year".
This is beautiful!
August 16th, 2022  
Beautiful, and interesting narrative.Fav😊
August 16th, 2022  
Fabulous shot
August 16th, 2022  
Wonderful capture!
August 16th, 2022  
Great capture and interesting narrative.
August 16th, 2022  
The fireworks behind this statue make for a fabulous photo.
August 17th, 2022  
Beautiful shot
August 17th, 2022  
Lovely shot and very interesting story behind it
August 17th, 2022  
Nice shot. What a shame that the original was changed rather than a new sculpture being made.
August 17th, 2022  
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