The latest cover of "Il Malti: Rivista tal-Akkademia tal-Malti" is Giuseppe Schembri's Bonaci "Maiiha".
The work is a reinterpretation of Manet's "Olympia", which was influenced by Goya's "Maja Desnuda". In Schembri Bonaci's "Maiiha" the red cushions of the "Olympia" are replaced by the red figure that is coming out from the black background. Even if at a first sight the work seems abstract, the title is suggesting the presence of a human figure in the painting. The "Maiiha" is not represented in a figurative manner, but is only the shape created by the colour that is suggesting the form of a woman's body.The silhouette of the red painting is directly inspired by the pose of Manet's "Olympia" and the title "Maiiha" plays on the Maltese sound juxtaposed with the Spanish 'j'. If the "Olympia" was a reply to Goya's and Titian's nude, the "Maiiha" tries to dial with the same tradition adopting a contemporary (and Maltese) language.