International perspectives on the decorative arts : nineteenth-century Malta

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]