https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/3307 Previously known as Department of History of Art Thu, 09 Apr 2026 13:03:11 GMT 2026-04-09T13:03:11Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/145350 Title: Perit André Zammit's bequest to the National Archives of Malta Authors: Thake, Conrad Abstract: Eric André Zammit (1930–2020) distinguished himself as an architect and as a senior lecturer at the University of Malta. He was born in Gozo in 1930 and experienced the war years there. Upon completing his secondary education at the Seminary in Gozo, he continued his studies at St Aloysius College in Birkirkara. After his matriculation examinations, he was admitted to the Royal University of Malta to pursue studies in Architecture and Civil Engineering. He graduated in 1952, the youngest of his class, and proceeded to post-graduate studies in highway engineering and road design in London and Milan. Upon his return, he was employed by the Public Works (1952–1965), specifically in the Roads Department, where he was involved in major infrastructural projects including Malta's first traffic fly-over at Blata l-Bajda, undertaken during the late 1950s. In the mid-1960s he established his own private architectural practice. During the 1970s and 80s, Zammit lectured in the Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering at the University of Malta. [excerpt] Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/145350 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/145305 Title: International perspectives on the decorative arts : nineteenth-century Malta Authors: Sagona, Mark Abstract: Perspectives on the Decorative Arts in nineteenth-century Malta was the title of the first conference on the Decorative Arts with a focus on Malta which I had the honour and privilege to convene, together with my colleague and friend from the Universita’ degli Studi di Palermo, Dr Roberta Cruciata, for the Department of Art and Art History, Faculty of Arts at the University of Malta. The conference, which was held at the Istituto Italiano di Cultura in Valletta on the 2nd May 2019 – on the 500th anniversary of the death of Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) – was a very significant milestone for the Department’s growing interest in the artistically rich field of the Decorative Arts in the Maltese Islands. This academic initiative was also a watershed for the study of this little-studied subject, one of the fundamental pillars of art-making in Malta and Gozo. The peculiar politico-religious set up of the time permitted a distinct rapport with the larger international dimension of the Decorative Arts in the period. Hence the title of this publication. There is an international common denominator which runs throughout all contributions. [extract] Fri, 01 Jan 2021 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/145305 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/145302 Title: The Cannataci family of silversmiths : design invention, stylistic evolution, and workshop production in nineteenth-century Malta Authors: Sagona, Mark Abstract: This paper aims to examine the extensive and diverse oeuvre of the members of the Cannataci family of silversmiths across three generations active in the central Mediterranean island of Malta throughout the entire nineteenth century. It focuses on a selection of works by the brothers Saverio and Giovanni, by Giovanni’s son Vincenzo, and Saverio’s grandsons Roberto and Francesco Saverio. Silversmiths in nineteenth-century Malta were numerous but it is clear that the family dominated silver production on the island throughout the century, especially in the field of the ecclesiastical decorative arts. This contribution posits their work within peripheral and international contexts of design and decorative arts history, and considers it within a pivotal period for the development of the decorative arts in Malta. Despite its peripheral geographical position, the peculiar status of Malta as a British fortress colony with a staunchly Roman Catholic population, facilitated the absorption of international currents. Malta also retained the strong bond with Italy which had been nurtured during the long dominion of the Order of the Knights of St John. Supplying a huge demand for both domestic and ecclesiastical artefacts, the Cannataci family of silversmiths produced numerous works of all kinds and uses, ranging from quotidian utensils and vessels to larger pieces of church furniture and liturgical objets d’art. This contribution explores the design invention, the artistic quality and stylistic evolution of their oeuvre. Moreover, it investigates possible sources of inspiration and the nature of the workshop structure, as well as collaborative efforts with leading Maltese designers. Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/145302 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/145299 Title: Eclecticism and the Baroque Revival in the decorative arts in Malta : the context for Abramo Gatt (1863-1944) Authors: Sagona, Mark; Gatt, Anthony; Murdoch, Tessa; O’Donnell, Roderick Abstract: This publication, the second volume in the scholarly series Studies in Central Mediterranean Decorative Arts, is dedicated to one of the most remarkably rich episodes in the extraordinary and profuse story of the decorative arts in Malta: the years straddling the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. is book discusses the prevalence of Eclecticism and Baroque Revival currents in the decorative arts in the islands of Malta and Gozo during the height of British colonial domination, and celebrates the islands’ most gifted native designer of the fin-de-siècle, Abramo Gatt (1863-1944), on the eightieth anniversary of his death. There were several Maltese designers who reflected the European predilection for such design solutions, but the oeuvre of Gatt is surely the most emblematic of this fascinating era, and it brilliantly captures the design mood of the epoch, especially in the context of the ecclesiastical decorative arts. Eclecticism became perhaps the most representative quality across the arts in this period, but it was most palpable in architecture, design and the decorative arts. As the nineteenth century drew to its close, this attitude gradually morphed into more ornate heaviness, an exuberance which is symptomatic of the Baroque Revival. This artistic development in design attitudes can be witnessed in both Malta and across the Continent, especially in areas dominated by Roman Catholicism, but not only, as the introductory essay aims to show. [extract] Mon, 01 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/145299 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z