JESUS # 27 - June 10th

"Jesus from Malta"
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This was probably the hardest Jesus to find. I went to Malta for weeks holiday. The first two days my wife and me were walking through Sliema. A lot, I might add. Besides the many vintage cars we noticed the following:

Besides almost every main entrance to a private home, right next to the door frame, there are tiles like this one here, showing either Mary, Joseph, Jesus or various combinations of the three.

The tiles are very different in style and condition. Some are so worn by the weather that the faces are completely featureless. Some are just dirty. Some are damaged and some even have been stolen, leaving nothing but a scarred wall.

It seems like when houses are taken down in Malta, these tiles are either reused or destroyed or kept among the family treasures. I have only seen one used Jesus title during the whole week.

Of course, there is a company that still manufactures these tiles. But these wouldn't be "discarded" Jesus images. And I don't like them. They don't look nice. Fortunately I saw this one in a antiques shop just around the corner from the hotel. And luckily, the shop was open on the day of my return flight. You can imagine that I was happy getting my hands on it.

Especially since he looks like a close relative to the Sphinx in Egypt ...