A corpus of eighteenth century choir lateral paintings in Malta

Abstract

This study relates to a Corpus of eighteenth century Choir Lateral Paintings, and gathers the most important sets of lateral paintings found in churches across Malta and Gozo in one work which encapsulates the art and styles of various artists who contributed in the eighteenth century Maltese art. This work required an extensive exercise m selecting churches containing appropriate lateral paintings in their choir area to be able to generate a list on which to create catalogue entries for this dissertation. The aim of the thesis was also to examine and understand the role played by lateral paintings in providing further iconographic narratives on the titular devotion, as the most common subjects for these laterals are usually scenes from the life of the patron saints of the particular parish churches. Various sources were used to acquire the needed information, which include a short note on each church's architecture and choir area, information on the relevant artist and historical information about the paintings. Apart from various books by different scholars, a number of unpublished thesis were consulted, especially ones which provide information on particular parish churches.