Tommaso Dingli ( mt, Tumas Dingli, 22 December 1591 – 28 January 1666) was a Maltese architect and sculptor. One of the last

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

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

Attard Attard ( mt, Ħ'Attard) is a town in the Central Region, Malta, Central Region of Malta. Together with Balzan and Lija it forms part of "Three villages of Malta, the Three Villages" and has been inhabited since the Classical antiquity, Classic ...

and

Birkirkara Birkirkara (abbreviated as B'Kara) is a city in the central region of Malta. It is the second most populous on the island, with 24,356 inhabitants as of 2020. The town consists of five autonomous parishes: Saint Helen, Saint Joseph the Worker, Ou ...

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 Giovanni Attard ( 1570–1636) was a Maltese architect, military engineer and stone carver from the town of Lija. He is mostly known for his role in the construction of the Wignacourt Aqueduct between 1610 and 1615. In 1609–10, he worked as a ...

during the construction of the

Wignacourt Aqueduct The Wignacourt Aqueduct ( mt, L-Akwedott ta' Wignacourt) is a 17th-century aqueduct in Malta, which was built by the Order of Saint John to carry water from springs in Dingli and Rabat to the newly built capital city Valletta. The aqueduct w ...

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 (, mt, il-Belt Valletta, ) is an Local councils of Malta, administrative unit and capital city, capital of Malta. Located on the Malta (island), main island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, i ...

. 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), was an artistic movement, especially architectural, developed in Spain and its territories, which appeared between the late Gothic and early Renaissance in ...

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

Baroque style The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

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 ( mt, Il-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 ...

* Parish Church of St. Mary in

* Parish Church of the Nativity of Mary in

Naxxar Naxxar ( mt, In-Naxxar) is a small city in the Northern Region of Malta, with a population of 14,891 people as of March 2014. The Naxxar Church is dedicated to Our Lady of Victories. The annual village feast is celebrated on 8 September. Naxx ...

* Parish Church of St. Bartholomew in

Għargħur Għargħur ( mt, Ħal Għargħur) is a village in the Northern Region, Malta, Northern Region of Malta. It is situated on a hilltop between two valleys, and it has a population of 2,768 as of March 2014. Għargħur Festa In Malta, each village ...

* Parish Church of Our Lady of Graces in

Żabbar Żabbar ( mt, Ħaż-Żabbar, ), also known as Città Hompesch, is a city in the South Eastern Region of Malta. It is the sixth largest city in the country, with a population of 15,404 as of March 2014. Originally a part of Żejtun, Żabbar was gr ...

* Parish Church of St. Philip of Agira 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 ...

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

Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ar, الرِّبَاط, er-Ribât; ber, ⵕⵕⴱⴰⵟ, ṛṛbaṭ) is the capital city of Morocco and the country's seventh largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan populati ...

*Sacristy of St. Paul's Cathedral in

Mdina Mdina ( mt, L-Imdina ; phn, 𐤌𐤋𐤈, Maleṭ; grc, Μελίττη, Melite (ancient city), Melíttē; ar, مدينة, Madīnah; ), also known by its Italian-language titles ("Old City") and ("Notable City"), is a fortifications of Mdin ...

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 ( mt, Santwarju Bażilika ta' Santa Marija), commonly known as the Rotunda of Mosta ( mt, Ir-Rotunda tal-Mosta) or the Mosta Dome, is a Roman Catholic parish church and Basilica in Mosta, Malta, ...

. Only the Birkirkara and Attard parish churches still retain Dingli's original design. Other buildings attributed to Dingli include the Bishop's Palace and the second ''Porta Reale'', both in

. The latter was demolished in 1853.

Personal life

Dingli married Argenta Dingli from

Siġġiewi Siġġiewi ( mt, Is-Siġġiewi, ), also called by its title Città Ferdinand, is a city and a local council in the Southern Region of Malta. It is the third largest council in Malta by surface area, after Rabat and Mellieħa respectively. It ...

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