This work of art created in oak wood, was one of the earliest work of art by Samuel Bugeja. At the time he had not yet started his most productive period in creating specific stand-alone wooden statues. This was his first and what a monument, his statement of the talent that lay beneath.

Indeed, a creation dating back to the late fifties, one can easily see his style of that time for such work. One can see and feel the incisions and marks left by the wood carving chisels, a characteristic that later moved towards extremely smooth, highly refined works of art.

The Monk has an incredible spiritual look on his face, with his hands close to his heart feeling the presence of God. This reflected Samuel Bugeja’s highly spiritual and religious background which was transmitted in this work with exceptional skill. A work of art that got the attention of the international art critic Eric Newton .

Eric Newton, Modern Art artist and internationally recognized book Author and Critic on Modern Art. The School of Art (1956). ‘The Times of Malta’ 28.12.1956. ‘Very particularly impressed by the statuette of a cowled monk carved in wood by Samuel Bugeja’.