Foreword [Baroque Routes Newsletter - Issue 13, 2021]

Abstract

For the second time, I am pleased to present issue no. 13 of the Baroque Routes Newsletter published regularly by the International Institute for Baroque Studies (IIBS) at the University of Malta on behalf of the Baroque Routes Network of the Council of Europe. Since its foundation in 1996, the International Institute for Baroque Studies has been involved in a range of activities that support its mission to disseminate multidisciplinary knowledge about the Baroque heritage and to promote its appreciation and conservation for posterity. The Institute consists of a small team of dedicated and hard-working academics under the directorship of Prof. Denis De Lucca. The Institute is actually active at both teaching and research levels targeting a wider dissemination of inter-disciplinary knowledge mostly about the historical, political, religious, social, scientific, artistic and architectural legacy of the Baroque age. In the past years, the objectives of the Institute have been implemented in the results of primary source research work which has formed the basis of several dissertations, publications and books listed in the regularly updated website of the Institute [www.um.edu.mt/iibs]. In spite of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Institute continued to carry out its teaching activities at undergraduate (certificate and diploma) and the MA Preparatory levels, as well as the Masters and Doctoral postgraduate levels, and participated actively in a number of consultancy projects. Furthermore, the Institute also promotes the conservation and restoration of the Baroque heritage both locally and abroad.