Gio Nicola Buhagiar

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Gio Nicola Buhagiar (Maltese: Ġannikol Buhagiar) was a Maltese Baroque painter born on 17 May 1698 in Żebbuġ. He came from a family of craftsmen; his father Pasquale was a stone carver and his mother Leonora Buttigieg came from Siġġiewi. The family moved to Valletta, Malta’s capital, where Buhagiar ran a painting workshop. There, he trained Francesco Zahra, who became a famous painter. The two were close friends, and Zahra’s early work was heavily influenced by Buhagiar. Some works once credited to Zahra are now thought to be Buhagiar’s, such as The Holy Family with God the Father at Tarxien parish church.

He married Anna Maria Cachia on 14 February 1719, and they had three children: Maria, Eleonora, and Ferdinando, who later became a priest.

Buhagiar died on 21 March 1752 in Valletta and was buried in the Carmelite Church (Basilica of Our Lady of Mount Carmel). His paintings can be found in many churches in Malta and Gozo, including Our Lady of Charity (1738) in the Żebbuġ parish church and Our Lady of the Rosary in the Żejtun parish church. His work also appears in Saint John’s Co-Cathedral in Valletta, the parish churches of Cospicua, Għarb, Għaxaq, Mqabba, Naxxar, Senglea, Siġġiewi, Victoria and Żabbar, the Inquisitor’s Palace in Birgu, and other sites.