Roman Baroque sculpture for the Knights of Malta [Book Review]

Abstract

The scholarly significance of this book is best appreciated if considered in the context of the research programme that the History of Art Programme at the University of Malta has on its academic agenda. The author is a senior lecturer and full-time member of staff on the Programme, who combines his research pursuits with a full teaching schedule. The Iconography' of the Maltese Islands, which I published in 1988, was a coherent first attempt at coming to terms with the history of the visual arts in Malta by providing a critical survey of painting in the 500 years between 1400 and 1900. The Introduction emphasised that the book was intended as a point of departure, and cautioned that new research would inevitably necessitate modifications and revisions. The ultimate desideratum was that it would serve as a stimulus for specialisations in the several historical art disciplines, and that future studies would, in due course, crystallise in a comprehensive scholarly history of art in Malta. Fourteen years later, this goal has not yet been attained, but appreciable progress has been made.