Pietro Paolo Troisi

Pietro Paolo Troisi (29 June 1686 – March or April 1743) was a Maltese Baroque silversmith, sculptor, medallist, designer, engraver and Master of the Mint.

[2] Between 1704 and 1705, Troisi studied at the Accademia di San Luca in Rome, on the recommendation of Grand Master Ramon Perellos y Roccaful.

[1] He also taught drawing of nude figures, and he co-founded a school of design and painting at the Mint in Valletta together with Marc'Antonio Zondadari (who would later become Grand Master of the Order of St John).

[2] Throughout his career, Troisi collaborated with a number of Maltese sculptors and stone carvers such as Pietro Paolo Zahra and the Fabri brothers.

Troisi made the designs and supervised its construction, while the woodwork was done by Andrea Camilleri and the painting was renewed by Aloisio Buhagiar.

[2] In 1727, Troisi was commissioned by Canon Gourgion on behalf of the Metropolitan Chapter to design an altar of repose for St Paul's Cathedral in Mdina.

[2] The chapel consists of a triumphal arch-like portico with stairs leading to a circular space which contains a partial dome and richly decorated walls.

A silver capsure made by Giovanni Andrea Troisi (Pietro Paolo's brother) and Annetto Pullicino serves as the centrepiece of the altar.

[2] He also made engravings on silverware, such as a dish depicting Victory over Land and Sea which was commissioned as a gift on the occasion of a marriage between the Pallavicini and Spinola families.

He is known to have made two busts located at the Magisterial Palace and the Banca Giuratale in Mdina; the latter is now found at the Manoel Theatre museum.

[1] In 1718, Troisi manufactured an altar antependium for the Archconfraternity of the Holy Cross at the Franciscan Church of St Mary of Jesus in Valletta.

In the 1720s, Troisi made a number of liturgical objects for the Lija parish church, including a case for the consecrated host, a pyx, a chalice and a paten; some of these were gilded in gold.

[1] He also manufactured a silver cross spearhead for the banner of the Confraternity of the Holy Rosary in Lija in 1726, and a reliquary for the Naxxar parish church in 1732.

In 1735 he produced designs for wood carvings at the altar of St John the Evangelist in the Church of Our Lady of Victories, Valletta.