Our Department has built on its accumulated academic prestige and enjoys the respect of the international art world. We offer History of Art and Fine Arts Degree programmes. We also run a Caravaggio Studies Project, and other specialised research projects.

Our main areas of specialisation are:

• Early Christian, Byzantine and Medieval Art
• Central Mediterranean Renaissance Art
• Italian Baroque Art and Architecture
• Decorative Arts and Design Currents 
• Nineteenth Century Art and Architecture 
• Modern and Contemporary Art and Architecture
• Architectural Theory
• Gender Studies in Art
• Visual Culture 
• Fine Arts

Get to know about the research carried out by our academic members of staff.

The Department of Art and Art History Best Dissertation Award

The Best Dissertation Award in the Department of Art and Art History recognizes outstanding original research at an undergraduate level which makes a significant contribution to the field. It honours scholarship, innovation, critical engagement and depth of analysis in Fine Arts and Art Historical studies. The Department established this award for Art History during Academic Year 2022-23, while that for Fine Arts was established in Academic Year 2024-25.

2022-23 
Michaele Zammit
An art-historical analysis and hypothetical reconstruction of the San Niklaw cave church, Mellieħa 
Supervisor: Prof Charlene Vella 

2023-24 
Tamara Burr
Specimens of Male Dress in Nineteenth-Century Malta: A Stylistic and Comparative Study of Sartorial Currents
Supervisor: Dr Mark Sagona

2024-25 
History of Art
Rebecca Delia 
Clothing the Enslaved: An analysis of artistic representations of enslaved individuals in sixteenth to eighteenth century Maltese visual culture 
Supervisor: Prof Keith Sciberras 

Fine Arts
Nina Olsen Kullenberg
Deep Fried Virtues: Analysing the Influence of Social Media on Leisure Through Painting
Supervisor: Dr Matthew Attard