Charting change : the Malta drawing school, artistic education and the Hyzler report relazione dello stato delle scuole del disegno nell’Università di Malta, dal 1802 al 1850 in British colonial Malta

Abstract

The National Archives of Malta houses a significant document entitled Relazione dello Stato delle Scuole del Disegno nell’Università di Malta, dal 1802 al 1850 (hereinafter referred to as report) that provides valuable insights into the Malta Drawing School (hereinafter referred to as academy), it’s academic artistic training and the state of art in Malta at the turn of the nineteenth century, as well as its development over the following five decades. Since its initial critical evaluation and publication in 1983, the history of the document’s location has drawn attention, particularly its transfer from the Grand Master’s Palace in Valletta, where it was originally housed, to Santo Spirito, Rabat in 1994 — now the site of the National Archives of Malta. During this period of transition, the document’s whereabouts were lost until it was rediscovered in 2004 during the extensive research undertaken for my Master’s dissertation. Its subsequent analysis was further developed in the 2011 publication, Academic Artistic Training in Early British Malta.