Rev. Dr. Marius Zerafa, O.P. (S.T.L., Lect. Th., A.R. Hist. S., Dr. Sc.Soc) is a noted and extraordinary scholar, art historian and restorer. He is an expert on the artists Giotto, Fra’Angelico and Caravaggio. Dr. Zerafa is Associate of the Royal Historical Society (London), Member of Académia Tiberna (Rome) and Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (France). Dr. Zerafa is the founder of the Museum of Fine Arts in Valletta, Malta. He is former Curator and Director of the Malta Museums.
While Director of Museums Dr. Zerafa masterminded the retrieval of Caravaggio’s only signed piece, St. Jerome, which had been stolen from St. John’s Co-Cathedral. His book “The Caravaggio Diaries” is an account of this adventure capturing the mystery and intrigue surrounding the theft. He is Chair of the Archdiocese of Malta’s Commission for Sacred Art and Vice-President of the Malta Arts Biennale. Dr. Zerafa is lecturer at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, Rome.