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Buhagiar, Gian Nicola
(b Haz Zebbug, 1698; d 1725). Maltese painter. He was the son of a stone-carver and spent most of his life in Valletta. In many respects the artistic heir of Alesso Erardi, whose pupil he may well have been, he was, after Francesco Zahra, the most significant representative of the Maltese Baroque school. His work is uneven in quality, and his paintings often contain weak and arid details, which reflect the provincial insularity of his art. His most ambitious undertaking was the vast composition of the Lamentation in the apse in the north transept of Zejtun Parish Church, which was painted directly in oil on the primed stonework. It was completed in 1739 in competition with the young Zahra, who worked on the south transept in the same church. The two painters shared many qualities, and it is sometimes difficult to differentiate between their work.
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