First volume in the prestigious 360° series to be dedicated to a particular museum, this work brings out the lavish beauty of Palazzo Falson after the long and painstaking restoration work carried out under the supervision of Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti’s Executive Chairman Maurice de Giorgio and of Michael Lowell. A close study of the text and of Enrico Formica’s superb photographs of rooms and other areas in the palazzo and of a good range of exhibits, including what are considered to be the most notable ones, is easily and undoubtedly the next best thing to an actual visit, and a record of the museum that cannot easily be paralleled.
Apart from the 88 pages of plates (which include a number of folding plates) the volume has two sequences of text. One of them consists of a commentary by Michelle Galea on all the features and exhibits illustrated in the book, a text notable for its combined lucidity and conciseness, drawing attention not just to the exhibits or architectural features themselves but also to their art-historical significance.
Maurice de Giorgio’s introduction and its essential bibliography then provides the reader with a short history of the palazzo and indicates that more research is being carried out into the details of what happened over the centuries since it was initially built in the 13th century. Just as interesting is what he has to say on Captain Olof Gollcher (1889-1962) who not only became Palazzo Falson’s owner in the 20th century but with much wisdom, acumen and taste laid the foundations of what is now the palazzo’s future, that of a historic house museum. He writes, “[Gollcher’s] ghost lives on in the rooms he recreated with his various possessions saved, preserved and undispersed.” The author reminds us of the sagacity with which Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti approached the Gollcher Foundation and concluded a far-reaching management agreement with it. He also reminds us that Palazzo Falson was meant by Gollcher to become the property of the Venerable Order of St John of Jerusalem, based in London, a bequest the Venerable Order providentially refused.
Perhaps the most valuable part of this Introduction is the fairly detailed account de Giorgio gives of the far-ranging restoration work carried out on the building, a task with which he himself was so intimately associated or a number of years. In addition, the equally difficult and laborious restoration of 3500 items of which Gollcher’s forty-five collections were composed was also carried out. These included a very rare 1791 Robin watch, valuable items of armour and weaponry, and an impressive range of paintings from marine paintings to fine portraits of members of the Gollcher family and others, and works by Mattia Preti and Nicholas Poussin, as well as etchings by Jacques Callot.
