Cosmana Navarra ( 1600 – 30 January 1687) was a

Maltese Maltese may refer to: * Someone or something of, from, or related to Malta * Maltese alphabet * Maltese cuisine * Maltese culture * Maltese language, the Semitic language spoken by Maltese people * Maltese people, people from Malta or of Maltese ...

noblewoman and art patron. Cosmana Navarra was born around the year 1600, the daughter of Giovanni Cumbo and Cornelia Navarra. Her mother came from a noble family, so this may be the reason her daughter was often referred to by this surname. After her mother's death, her father married Giovanna D’Anastasio. Their daughter Timotea became Suor Geltruda Cumbo (1613-1656), popularly regarded as a

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

.Caruana Dingli, Petra
Between Malta and Palermo: Re-Creating the Life Story of Geltruda Cumbo (1613–56)
In ''Fuga Mundi: Studies on Monasticism in Late Antiquity and Early Modern Malta'' ed. by Jonathan Farrugia (University of Malta, 2024), pp. 59–87. In 1615, Cosmana Navarra married Melchior Vella Cagliares, a lawyer and nephew of Bishop

Baldassare Cagliares Baldassare Cagliares ( 1575 – 4 August 1633) was a Maltese people, Maltese Roman Catholic prelate who was the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Malta, Bishop of Malta from 1615 until his death. Biography Baldassare Cagliares was born in Valletta ...

. They had one child,

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

author Ignazio Vella Cagliares (1618-1640), before he died in 1624. The next year she married Lorenzo Cassar, who died in 1660. She spent the rest of her life as a widow. The main focus of her patronage was the Basilica of St Paul, Rabat. She spent over 30,000

scudi The ''scudo'' (pl. ''scudi'') was the name for a number of coins used in various states in the Italian peninsula from 1551 until the 19th century. The name, like that of the French écu and the Spanish and Portuguese escudo, was derived from t ...

on the reconstruction of the church and furnishing the interior. She commissioned paintings by

Mattia Preti Mattia Preti (24 February 1613 – 3 January 1699) was an Italian Baroque artist who worked in Italy and Malta. He was appointed a Member of the Order of Saint John. Life Born in the small town of Taverna in Calabria, Preti was called ''Il Ca ...

Melchiorre Cafà Melchiorre Cafà (1636–1667), born Melchiorre Gafà and also known as Caffà, Gafa, Gaffar or Gafar, was a Maltese Baroque sculptor. Cafà began a promising career in Rome but this was cut short by his premature death following a work acciden ...

, Michelangelo Marullo, and

Stefano Erardi Stefano Erardi (1630–1716) was a Maltese painter whose works may be found in many churches around the Maltese Islands. His style has been described as either late Mannerist or Baroque. Biography Erardi was born in Valletta in 1630 to Sebasti ...

for the church. She also constructed a ''palazzo,'' Casa Cosmana Navarra, across from the church. Cosmana Navarra was also the owner of a slave woman called Marietta, who had a son named Mosè. The latter grew up in Navarra's household, and he became a Catholic priest. Cosmana Navarra died in 1687 at the age of 87.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Navarra, Cosmana Created via preloaddraft 1687 deaths 17th-century women philanthropists 17th-century philanthropists Maltese slave owners Maltese women Women slave owners