The transformation of antiquities creating the historic monument in Malta between the sixteenth and the early twentieth century

Abstract

This study examines the complex process through which antiquities in the Maltese Islands were transformed into historic monuments between the sixteenth century and the early twentieth century. While the empirical material is drawn from Malta, the discourse under analysis situates the Maltese experience within the broader European experience. The research explores the social, political, and cultural conditions that shaped the valorisation of antiquities and their metamorphosis into monuments, focusing on material culture valued as testimony to a historical past. Using object biographies, the study traces the afterlives of a selected range of typologically diverse antiquities – including sarcophagi, tomb stones, inscriptions, coin hoards, ancient statues, architectural pieces – from their moment of discovery through successive reinterpretations. The transformation of these objects was neither linear nor uniform: distinct historical periods, particularly the era of the Order of St John and the British colonial administration, carried their own specificities that must be understood within their respective socio-cultural contexts. Because such changes were often gradual and imperceptible, the study adopts a broad temporal perspective, enabling a more intelligible narrative of how and why certain ancient objects came to be valued and monumentalized, and others lost. Employing a Grounded Theory framework, the research identifies distinct behavioural patterns and human actions – from entextualisation, visual representation, collecting, and display to emotional responses to loss and misuse – that collectively illuminate the processes through which antiquities were reimagined as historic monuments.