Chronology of Malta Art (original) (raw)
Related papers
THE RE-BIRTH OF MALTESE ART IN THE 17 TH CENTURY - Stefano Erardi and Alessio Erardi
Times of Malta , 1980
Art in Malta had a slow evolution throughout the Middle Ages, quickening in the late 15th into the 16th Century. A rare renaissance of native Maltese art was eventually attained in the 17th Century thanks to a social fusion of immigrant craftsmen and local artisans. This essay explores the growth of this flourish through the achievements of an immigrant family of talent with aspiring Maltese artisans.
D,Cutajar 2014 Late Baroque Art in Malta - the Buhagiar and Zahra Families.pdf
The art of native Maltese artists underwent a vigorous rebirth in the course of the 17th Century thanks to direct contacts with a number of worthy continental artists - a slow but accelerating process culminating in the excited flourish of mid-18th Century Late Baroque. This study provides the essential researched biography of the native Maltese protagonists of this phenomenon: Gio Nicola Buhagiar and Francesco Zahra.
At Home in Art: Essays in honour of Mario Buhagiar, C. Vella (ed.), 2016
ONE OF THE MORE FASCINATING QUALITIES about the ecclesiastical decorative arts in Malta-an artistically extraordinary field which is in the process of discovery and assessment 1-is the way they not only reflect the larger context in the other artistic dominions, but more importantly, the manner in which many times they usher in new artistic ideas. Such a scenario took place in Malta in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, especially within the ecclesiastical sphere, one of the strongest fields of local artistic production. While painting, sculpture and architecture remained dramatically conservative, design and decoration-in the form of liturgical objets d'art and items of church furnishing in silver and wood-shows palpable signs of the artistic change which was concurrently reshaping the artistic world on the Continent. This contribution discusses the exciting ways in which artistic production in Malta-essentially dominated by ecclesiastical commissions-was injected with metamorphosis through the decorative arts. This occurred through innovative ideas which percolated to the island from the more sophisticated European centres, such as Rome and Paris, but also from closer quarters to the island such as Sicily, and manifested themselves in both local production and significant foreign imports. Thus, for example, the vocabulary of Neo-Classicism first appeared in Maltese churches through the decorative arts and not in 1 This contribution is largely extracted from my recent Ph.D. thesis which was supervised by
The Maltese artistic heritage of the Roman period
1986
Studies on Roman Art in Malta As for many other fields of the Maltese cultural heritage the study of Roman art in Malta starts with the monumental work of the 17th century of which the Maltese nation is justifiably proud: the Descrittione by Giovanni Francesco Abela.ttl More than a century before the German scholar J .J. Winckelmann laid the foundations for a history of ancient art,(2) Abela was already publishing in that work a series of ancient artistic objects some of which he had acquired for his own personal collection while others were scattered in different parts of the islands. (3) Abela hardly ever attempted a stylistic appreciation of the works of art he published whereas he was sometimes far too rash in his historical judgements, although his identifications were generally correct.< 4 > The art objects described and illustrated by Abela were also included in the enlarged edition of his work by Giovanni Antonio Ciantar in the 18th century ,< 5 > and in other descriptions of the Maltese islands written by both Maltese and foreign writers in that same century and in the following one.< 6 l Certainly the most precious treasure of Roman art in the possession of the Maltese nation was unearthed all together in 1881 during the excavation of the well-known Roman town villa (or house) at Rabat, just outside the fortifications of Mdina. It consisted of a rich collection of polychrome mosaics, both geometric and figurative, and a group of sculptures of a very fine quality. However, the gentleman who conducted the excavation and published their report, A .A. Caruana, made only a brief mention of the mosaics and sculptures and illustrated them with drawings and a photograph without attempting an identification.(7) Albert Mayr, just after the
Two Generations of Maltese Artistic Families - Volume 3
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Antonio Buhagiar (1906-98) Within the Context of the Decorative Arts in Malta*
2019
It is amply clear that one of the wealthiest fields of artistic production in the Maltese Islands is that of the decorative arts. Since at least Late Medieval times, the decorative arts have existed side by side with the other fields of the visual and fine arts, and have thrived together with painting, sculpture, and architecture. The History of Art in Malta is essentially dominated by the ecclesiastical field and it is exactly within this context that the decorative arts flourished with particular force: liturgical objets d'art, church furniture, embroideries for liturgical vestments and related paraphernalia, processional items, works of purely decorative and ornamental nature in stucco, wood, stone, marble, bronze or any other metals. In spite of all this existent wealth, they have been, however, largely overlooked, and have been little studied and published. l In an attempt to rectify this state of affairs, on the encouragement of Professor Mario Buhagiar, research on this r...
Two Generations of Maltese Artistic Families - Volume 2
Two Generations of Maltese Artistic Families is a three-year project being undertaken by APS Bank throughout 2014-2016 recording and evaluating the contribution of six pairs of Maltese artists while eliciting inter-relationships between their milieus and their sensitivity in their respective artistic works. This initiative, which consists of a yearly publication and respective exhibition, reflects the Bank’s raison d’être, that is to complement activities carried out by other entities and bring together a collective effort of ideas by forerunners in the cultural field. Volume 1 is the first of three publications in accompaniment APS Bank’s series of Art Exhibitions, each of which feature two generations of artists. Edited by senior lecturer, art critic and curator Profs. Louis Laganà, this volume particularly celebrates the achievements of seminal artists Aldo Micallef-Grimaud and his daughter Nadine Micallef-Grimaud as well as Antoine Camilleri and his son Antoine Paul Camilleri. Volume 2 is the second in the series which celebrates the achievements of illustrious artists George Fenech and his son Gilbert Fenech as well as Joseph L. Mallia and his daughter Henriette C. Mallia. The exceptionally-written essays and psychoanalytic analysis in these books give a clear picture of how the Maltese Art Scene has changed from the 20th century onwards, especially with the emergence of more dynamic artistic tendencies.
B.A. in History of Art (Honours) dissertation, 2017
This undergraduate dissertation analyses Suor Maria de Dominici as an artist and a member within a religious order, and will evaluate her life and works in Malta and in Rome. Her significance, both as an artist within Preti’s bottega and independently, together with her fortuna critica and literature written about her, is analysed. The methods of research carried out in this dissertation include a formal and technical analysis of the works of art attributed to the artist in Malta, which included viewing and studying the paintings physically. Historical analysis, including tracing patronage patterns and studying iconography of the image within its context, was also carried out. Of significant importance was also the research carried out in various archives in Malta and also in Rome, as, although unfortunately not much is documented or still exists, it helped to differentiate between what is factual and what is traditional. This was also done through the evaluation of stories generated about the artist, both that which has been published over the years as well as oral tradition, which exists even today in small Maltese towns, especially in churches. This was of essential importance for the scrutinization of the biography of Maria de Dominici and the works of art attributed to her. The significance of Suor Maria de Dominici as an artist and tertiary, as well as gender issues will be studied throughout the dissertation.