Maltese still life painting, 1600-1945

Abstract

This study tries to throw some light on one of the unfilled lacunae of Maltese art. The local production of Still Life painting has long demanded some attention, and hence, this analysis of a genre that has always been looked upon as being humble and of low artistic merits is a pioneering script. Indeed, there is a complete absence of both primary and secondary literature on the subject. Consequently, the research undertaken for this dissertation was mainly out in long discussing sessions with numerous people, who have moreover, generously hinted some key foreign books for reference. Naturally, the cornerstone for the development of the still life painting was Caravaggio himself. His quest for a dramatic naturalism led to the development of numerous conventions within the genre. Under the one that includes carpets is enlisted Francesco Fieravino or II Maltese, as it is believed that he was born in Malta. The information about him is as cryptic as it is on those still lives that are probably of a local production. Indeed, given the silence of documentation on such autonon1ous pieces, the analysis falls on the still life representations forming part of a painting. Such examples are included with portraits, on antependiums, and in altarpieces. The most remarkable of such decorations are certainly those of Francesco Zahra. The turn of the 18th century is dominated by the Neo-Classical style and the Nazarener movement. The latter were a group of artists whose aims were to re-store the Christian spirit in art. Still life paintings, that were the direct result of the Baroque exuberance, certainly had no room here. But the genre certainly recovered after the artistic endeavours of Cali, Pisani and others, followed the opening of the School of Art.