Tommaso Dingli (, 22 December 1591 – 28 January 1666) 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 ...

architect and sculptor. One of the last

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

architects on the island, he designed several parish churches, most notably those of

Attard Attard () is a town in the Northern Region of Malta. Together with Balzan and Lija, it forms part of the " Three Villages" () and has been inhabited since the Classical Period. It has a population of 12,268 as of 2021. Attard's traditional ...

and

Birkirkara Birkirkara (abbreviated as B'Kara or BKR) is a city in the Eastern Region, Malta, Eastern Region of Malta. It is the second most populous on the Malta (island), island, with 24,356 inhabitants as of 2020. The town consists of five autonomous pari ...

Biography

Tommaso Dingli was born on 22 December 1591 in

, the son of the sculptor Giacobo Dingli and his wife Katerina Dingli née Tabone. He was the fourth of ten children, and one of his brothers was the artist Filippo Dingli. Dingli began his career as a ''scarpellino'' (stone carver) with his father Giacobo and his uncle, the engineer Andrea Dingli. Parish-church-attard

In his early career as an architect, Dingli assisted the ''capomastro'' (master builder) Giovanni Attard during the construction of the

Wignacourt Aqueduct The Wignacourt Aqueduct () is a 17th-century Aqueduct (water supply), aqueduct in Malta, which was built by the Knights Hospitaller, Order of Saint John to carry water from springs in Dingli and Rabat, Malta, Rabat to the newly built capital ci ...

between 1610 and 1614. In later years, Dingli obtained a number of commissions and he designed a number of parish churches. In 1633, Dingli is attributed to have designed the second ''Porta Reale'', the main

city gate A city gate is a gate which is, or was, set within a city wall. It is a type of fortified gateway. Uses City gates were traditionally built to provide a point of controlled access to and departure from a walled city for people, vehicles, goods ...

of the capital

Valletta Valletta ( ; , ) is the capital city of Malta and one of its 68 Local councils of Malta, council areas. Located between the Grand Harbour to the east and Marsamxett Harbour to the west, its population as of 2021 was 5,157. As Malta’s capital ...

. In 1639, Giovanni de’ Medici was impressed with Dingli's abilities and offered to take him to Italy, but he declined since his service was in demand within Malta. Dingli died on 28 January 1666 at the age of 74, and he was buried at the Attard parish church, which he had designed himself. Most of Dingli's churches were built in the

Renaissance style Renaissance architecture is the European architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 16th centuries in different regions, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of Ancient Greece, ancient Greek and ...

, and they might have had influences from the Spanish

Plateresque Plateresque, meaning "in the manner of a silversmith" (''plata'' being silver in Spanish language, Spanish), was an artistic movement, especially Architecture, architectural, developed in Spanish Empire, Spain and its territories, which appeared ...

. He was one of the last Renaissance architects in Malta, and the

Baroque style The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from the early 17th century until the 1750s. It followed Renaissance art and Mannerism and preceded the Rococo (i ...

became popular in the years after his death.

Buildings attributed to Dingli

Dingli is best known for his ecclesiastical architecture. Churches which are known to have been designed by him include: * Parish Church of St. Mary in

– probably in collaboration with other architects *Parish Church of the Assumption in

Mosta Mosta () is a small but densely populated city in the Northern Region of Malta. The most prominent building in Mosta is the Rotunda, a large basilica built by its parishioners' volunteer labour. It features the world's 3rd largest unsupported ...

* Parish Church of St. Mary in

* Parish Church of the Nativity of Mary in

Naxxar Naxxar () is a town and local council in the Northern Region of Malta. The population in March 2014 was 14,891. The Naxxar Church is dedicated to Our Lady of Victories. The annual village feast is celebrated on 8 September. It formerly hoste ...

* Parish Church of St. Bartholomew in

Għargħur Għargħur () is a village in the Eastern Region of Malta. It is situated on a hilltop between two valleys, and has a population of 2,768, as of March 2014. Għargħur Festa In Malta, each village celebrates a different patron saint or two de ...

* Parish Church of Our Lady of Graces in

Żabbar Żabbar ( ), also known as Città Hompesch, is a city in the Port Region, Malta, Port Region of Malta. It is the seventh largest city in the country, with an estimated population of 15,648 as of January 2021. Originally a part of Żejtun, Żabbar ...

* Parish Church of St. Philip of Agira in

Żebbuġ Żebbuġ ( ), also known by its title Città Rohan, is a city in the Western Region of Malta. It is one of the oldest towns in the country, and its population is 11,074 as of June 2021. History and origins The parish church is dedicated to P ...

– in collaboration with other architects *Church of the Madonna tal-Għar at

Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ) is the Capital (political), capital city of Morocco and the List of cities in Morocco, country's seventh-largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan population of over 1.2 million. ...

*Sacristy of

St. Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...

Mdina Mdina ( ; ), also known by its Italian epithets ("Old City") and ("Notable City"), is a fortifications of Mdina, fortified city in the Western Region, Malta, Western Region of Malta which served as the island's former capital, from antiquity ...

Most of these were altered or destroyed in subsequent centuries, for example the Mosta parish church was demolished in the 19th century to make way for the

Rotunda of Mosta The Sanctuary Basilica of the Assumption of Our Lady (), commonly known as the Rotunda of Mosta () or the Mosta Dome, is a Roman Catholic parish church and basilica in Mosta, Malta, dedicated to the Assumption of Mary. It was built between 1833 an ...

. Only the Birkirkara and Attard parish churches still retain Dingli's original design. Other buildings attributed to Dingli include the

Bishop's Palace A bishop's palace is a form of ecclesiastical architecture constituting the official residence of a bishop.The term was not used in the British Isles until the Church of England was restructured following the Norman Conquest of 1066 AD. However, th ...

and the second ''Porta Reale'', both in

. The latter was demolished in 1853.

Personal life

Dingli married Argenta Dingli from

Siġġiewi Siġġiewi ( ), also called by its title Città Ferdinand, is a city and a local council in the Western Region of Malta. It is the third largest council in Malta by surface area, after Rabat and Mellieħa. Siġġiewi is situated on a plateau ...

when he was 60 years old. They had six children, one of whom became a priest.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dingli, Tommaso 1591 births 1666 deaths People from Attard Maltese Roman Catholics 17th-century Maltese architects Renaissance architects Stone carvers 17th-century Maltese sculptors Architects of Roman Catholic churches

Biography

Buildings attributed to Dingli

Personal life

Further reading

References