Mattia Preti and the spread of Baroque art in rural Malta between 1661 and the 1680s

Abstract

This study analyses Mattia Preti’s rural commissions within the social fabric of the villages and engages with the mechanics of patronage. By evaluating Preti’s artistic dissemination from Valletta to various peripheral churches, it examines how these villages were so receptive of the Baroque manner defined by Preti and his contemporaries. Mattia Preti has been published extensively by several scholars and this study is hugely indebted to the Catalogues Raisonnés of Preti’s works by Spike (1999) and Sciberras (2012), (2020) which were a starting point and a constant point of reference. These tomes identify, catalogue and provide the artworks with a provenance and bibliography, based on archival research and exhibition history. The most seminal publications for the purpose of this research, are those by Sciberras. His book, Baroque Painting in Malta (2009), evaluates the Maltese artistic scenario as a microcosm of Italian art, providing a contextual analysis for artistic commissions whilst zooming into the works of well-known and lesser-known artists. A useful tool, at the end of the book, is the select list of works, in both public and ecclesiastical collections, which helped in identifying the major corpus of works by contemporaries of Preti. His Triumphant Manner (2012) and Mattia Preti, Life and Works (2020) acted as a launching pad to this study as they critically analyse the commissions of Preti both formally and stylistically. These publications were the most insightful for this study and provided great worth to the body of literature pertaining to the research. In view of these seminal publications, this study embarks on a critical evaluation of the published information, assessing it from the viewpoint of the villagers and focuses on the networking between the rural villages. Though rural commissions have been published by various scholars, this study further lends a voice and centre stage to the actions of rural villagers. These have very often been obscured, within traditional writings, dominated by the more literate and influential classes of society. The added value in this study lies in building on the generic details that other researchers and scholars have already published and thereby analysing and providing micro details that led to the dispersal of Preti’s art in rural villages, between the 1660s and the 1680s (Fig.38). It also outlines the impact that Preti exerted on his contemporaries and identifies their presence in the villages (Figs.51&52).