to meet him personally. This meeting initiated the lasting friendship between them. In 1911, Antonio Sciortino participated in an international competition for the monument in memory of emperor Alexander II of Russia (1818-1881). His designs and models won the first prize but the prize was not given for a formal reason. However, Tsar Nicholas II, fascinated by the project, bought the designs willingly. In 1913, Sciortino entered a competition to build a monument to the Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko. The designs were accepted and the sculptor won first place. This monument, made of granite and bronze, is 7.5 meters high and represents the poet in an act of meditation sitting on a tree trunk wearing the Ukrainian national dress. On the pedestal there is a group of figures representing the people of Ukraine. In 1914 Sciortino wanted to join the Royal Engineers, but on the advice of the ex-governor of Malta, Lord Grenfell, he continued with his work in Rome to start work on a memorial for the first world war. For three whole years Sciortino was mesmerized by the thought, planning and modeling of this vast and imposing monument which was to be known as the Temple of the British Empire to the Unknown Hero. Sciortino realized this work in a 1:200 scale clay model. It is said that the idea of a memorial in honor of the 'Unknown Soldier' is a creation of the Maltese artist. As a memorial of the 24th International Eucharistic Congress held in Malta in 1913, Sciortino was commissioned to complete a monument. This work, entitled "Christ the King", was unveiled in Floriana on 30 December 1917 during a religious ceremony which around 40,000 Maltese attended. The statue of Christ the Redeemer is a bronze figure 3.5 meters high that dominates on a granite pedestal and expresses the majesty and greatness of a king. Malta is represented as a female figure kneeling under the pedestal in an act of submission while asking for a blessing. The figure also recalls the victories over "the enemies of Christ". Originally, Sciortino planned the monument with a figure of Christ only because the main goal was a representation of transubstantiation, the concept of the real presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist. For this, the figure of Malta does not look at the face of Christ but instead bows her head in an act of reverence bringing before