This study-unit offers an overview of the rich and varied, multilayered history of the development of Art and Architecture in Malta from the Late Medieval period to the more experimental engagements at the turn of the second millenium. It discusses the local and international contexts as they evolved across the ages, thus permitting stylistic absorptions which were reflected in the works of both international and local artists and architects.
It provides the necessary tools for a critical art historical appreciation of the more important works of art and architecture of the Maltese Islands as they evolved from Medieval and Renaissance times, to the advent of the Knights of St John and the consolidation of Mannerist and Baroque currents, and the subsequent gradual evolution to Neoclassical ideas which became more current during the British period which also witnessed the establishment of Romantic and Revivalist ideas, and the gradual metamorphosis towards modernity after World War II, onto Independence and its aftermath.
Main Reading List
- M. Buhagiar, The Iconography of the Maltese Islands, Malta 1987.
- Leonard Mahoney, History of Maltese Architecture, Malta 1998.
- Quentin Hughes, Conrad Thake, Malta – The Baroque Island, Midsea Books, Malta, 2004.
- M. Buhagiar, The Late Medieval Art and Architecture of the Maltese Islands, Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti, Malta 2005.
- K. Sciberras, Roman Baroque Sculpture for the Knights of Malta, Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti, Malta 2004.
- K. Sciberras, Baroque Painting in Malta, Midsea Books, Malta 2009.
- Conrad Thake and Quentin Hughes, Malta War & Peace: an Architectural Chronicle 1800-2000, Midsea Books, Malta 2005.
Supplementary Reading List
- C. Vella, The Mediterranean Artistic Context of Late Medieval Malta 1091-1530, Midsea Books, Malta 2013.
- J. P. Cassar, Pioneers of Modern Art in Malta, Vol.I and 2, Malta 2010, 2019.
- Emanuel Fiorentino & Louis A. Grasso, Giuseppe Calì (1846-1930), Said International, Malta 1991.
- C. Attard, The Art of Dying Well: Visual Culture in times of piety and plague
- Malta 1675-1814, Kite, Malta 2022.
- C. Thake (ed.), The Addolorata Cemetery, Midsea Books, Malta 2020.
- M. Sagona (ed.), International Perspectives in the Decorative Arts: Nineteenth-Century Malta, Midsea Books, Malta 2021.
- Dissertations presented to the Department of Art and Art History and other academic papers.
