Dr Mark Sagona, Head of the Department of Art and Art History in the Faculty of Arts, University of Malta has just returned from South Orange in New Jersey, where he was invited to deliver a public lecture on art in Malta at Seton Hall University. The lecture, which formed part of the university’s Robert Tarte international lecture series, took place at the Beck Rooms in the university's Walsh Library on Wednesday 30 October 2024. It focused on the artistic connections between Malta and Rome in the nineteenth century, and was entitled: 'The Lure of Rome: Malta's fascination with the Eternal City in the nineteenth century'.
The lecture highlighted and discussed the various channels through which Rome and its art reached Malta in the century synonymous with the British colonial period and considered the contexts of the Accademia di San Luca, those of the Nazarenes and the Purists, the eclectic milieu of Pope Pius IX and his patronage, and the continued lure of Rome in the time of the Risorgimento and after. The works discussed included examples of painting, sculpture and the decorative arts, both by Maltese and Italian artists. The audience consisted of University professors, students, faculty members and friends of the Seton Hall University community, including a number of Italian scholars and ex-patriates. An engaging discussion followed the lecture.
The invitation to lecture at Seton Hall University resulted from Dr Sagona’s recent publication (Spring 2024) of an academic paper in the online peer-reviewed journal Nineteenth-Century Art Worldwide (NCAW) which focused on one of Malta’s most important nineteenth-century commissions to arrive from the Eternal City. One of the editors and founders of the journal is Professor Emerita Petra ten-doesschate Chu, an international authority on European nineteenth-century art. Professor Chu was in Malta last year when she delivered a number of lectures to both University students and members of the public.
The visit was facilitated by Prof. Gabriella Romani, Director of the Charles and Joan Alberto Institute for Italian Studies. At the end of the lecture, Dr Sagona presented a copy of his newly-published book on the decorative arts in Malta to Seton Hall University.
