File:Portrait of Carlo M. Muscat.jpg

English: President of the Malta Chamber of Commerce (1889)

19th century artist
Oil on canvas, 104x88cm
Main Hall of the Malta Chamber of Commerce

"There is in this portrait some affinity to the work of the Ferrara-born artist Giovanni Boldini (1842-1931) who was initially an exponent of the Florence-based Macchiaioli movement, but who then travelled to London in 1869 and to Paris in 1872 where he settled down. He became the fashionable portrait painter for high-class society in the French capital. It would not be presumptuous to infer that what Boldini came to mean to French fashionable society, Bonavia did the same for its Maltese and English equivalents. This 19th century President sits on a typically 19th century spoon-back armchair with carved mahogany scrolled arms. It is an unsigned picture and therefore open to attributions. Some time ago it was assigned to Charles Allingham, though this is highly improbable since the English artist died in 1850, almost 40 years before Carlo Muscat was appointed president of the Chamber. In addition, the sitter's attire is more consonant with the second half of the 19th century than with its first half. Carlo Muscat holds a decree in his hand, headed with the words 'Esposizione d'Industria Maltese 1864' which definitely leaves no doubt that the portrait cannot belong to a period previous to 1864. Allingham is therefore totally out of the question. I would rather think in terms of a Maltese artist like Ignazio Carlo Cortis (1826-1898), who was a contemporary of Giuseppe Cali, and who like his more illustrious contemporary, displayed his talents in a diversity of genres. Portraits by Cortis are rather plentiful and could provide some point of comparison with the present one. Though Cortis spent most of his life in Rome where he had been trained at the Accademia di San Luca under Tommaso Minardi, one of the prime movers of the Puristi movement, he occasionally revisited his country where he received various commissions for church decoration.

Another possible candidate for this portrait's authorship could be Lazzaro Pisani (1854-1932), who in effect was first tutored in Malta under Cortis from whom he inherited some traits of workmanship. Still, my first preference remains with Cortis." - Emmanuel Fiorentino