Don Carlo Zimech ( mt, Dun Karlu Zimech, 1696 – 22 June 1766) was a Maltese priest and painter. He was born within a well-off family in

Żebbuġ Żebbuġ ( mt, Ħaż-Żebbuġ) , also known by its title Città Rohan, is a city in the Northern 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 Churc ...

on mainland Malta. In his later life, he retired to

Nadur Nadur ( mt, In-Nadur) is an administrative unit of Malta, located in the eastern part of the island of Gozo. Nadur is built on a plateauand is one of the largest localities in Gozo. Known as the 'second city', it spreads along a high ridge to ...

Gozo Gozo (, ), Maltese: ''Għawdex'' () and in antiquity known as Gaulos ( xpu, 𐤂𐤅𐤋, ; grc, Γαῦλος, Gaúlos), is an island in the Maltese archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. The island is part of the Republic of Malta. After t ...

, possibly because of health problems. He died in his residence on 22 June 1766, and was buried in the Nadur parish church. Paintings attributed to Zimech include: *''The Annunciation'', at the sacristy of the Balzan parish church *''The Immaculate Conception'' (1738), old altarpiece of the Cospicua parish church *''Our Lady of the Holy Rosary'', at the

Parish Church of St George, Qormi The Church of St George is a 16th-century baroque Roman Catholic parish church located in Qormi, Malta. History The parish of St George is one of the 12 parishes mentioned in the rollo of Bishop Senatore de Mello in 1436. The church structure wa ...

*''The Immaculate Conception'', ''The martyrdom of St Paul'' (1750), ''The martyrdom of St Peter'' (1750) and ''The Four Evangelists'', at the Nadur parish church *''San Carlo'', at the

Church of Our Lady of Sorrows, Pietà The Church of Our Lady of Sorrows ( mt, Knisja tal-Madonna tad-Duluri) is a Roman Catholic church in Pietà, Malta. It was established in the late 16th or early 17th century near a cemetery in which victims of the 1592–1593 Malta plague epidemic ...

– this is signed with his initials ''DCZ'' Zimech is sometimes also credited with ''The Nativity of Our Lady'' (1744), the altarpiece of the Xagħra parish church. However, this is disputed and its artist and date of execution are uncertain. It seems to have been originally been located somewhere in Malta (possibly

Senglea Senglea ( mt, L-Isla ), also known by its title Città Invicta (or Civitas Invicta), is a fortified city in the South Eastern Region of Malta. It is one of the Three Cities in the Grand Harbour area, the other two being Cospicua and Vittorios ...

) and it was transferred to Xagħra in 1744–51. Zimech might have modified the painting to fit in its new location. Some of Zimech's work has been erroneously attributed to the architect and poet

Carlo Gimach Carlo Gimach (2 March 1651 – 31 December 1730) was a Maltese architect, engineer and poet who was active in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Throughout his career, he worked in Malta, Portugal and Rome, and he is mostly known for designi ...

due to the similarity of their names. Gimach lived in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

and

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

during Zimech's lifespan, and there is no evidence that he was a painter. A street in Nadur is named after him, ''Triq Dun Karlu Zimech'' (Don Carlo Zimech Street).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zimech, Carlo 1696 births 1766 deaths People from Żebbuġ 18th-century Maltese Roman Catholic priests 18th-century Maltese painters 18th-century male artists