The Maltese artistic heritage of the Roman period

Abstract

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. More than a century before the German scholar J.J. Winckelmann laid the foundations for a history of ancient art, 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. 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. 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, and in other descriptions of the Maltese islands written by both Maltese and foreign writers in that same century and in the following one.