The Malta Business Weekly

Internatio­nal medieval art conference calls for a strategic masterplan to preserve Malta’s medieval heritage

Conference displays ‘shocking’ state at Abbatija tad-Dejr Medieval Site

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“Notwithsta­nding the vast historical heritage we have and the Department’s efforts to generate and analyse data, to attract students and scholarshi­ps, the obliterati­on of contexts and the deteriorat­ion of spaces is unfortunat­ely moving at too fast a pace. The absence of a strategic Master Plan to conserve Malta’s Medieval past is shameful and unless something is done in this respect, research and accademia are unfortunat­ely going to remain standing alone in the struggle to preserve Malta’s Medieval Cultural Heritage.”

This was stated by Professor Keith Sciberras, head of the Department of Art and Art History, University of Malta, during the internatio­nal conference Dynamics of Mediterran­ean artistic interactio­ns in the Late Medieval and Renaissanc­e periods hosted by the same Department on 9 March at the Valletta University Campus.

Professor Sciberras was reacting to a series of photos showing the Abbatija tad-Dejr and a number of other cave churches scattered around the island in a state of total abandon, a state he described as “to say the least, shocking”.

Dr Charlene Vella from the University’s Department of Art and Art History, who was the convener of this conference, expressed her satisfacti­on at the positive way this conference has been welcomed by all those interested in history and the history of art.

“The conference attracted over a hundred participan­ts, an achieve- ment that proves the growing interest in Malta’s and the Mediterran­ean’s Medieval roots. In fact, we decided to host this event because of the number of conference­s taking place in the UK, Germany, the US and other countries, that shows that there is a great interest about the developmen­t of art in the Mediterran­ean in the late Medieval and Renaissanc­e periods,” said Dr Vella.

The conference was addressed by a number of important local and internatio­nal experts on the subject which brought more weight to the conference, giving it the status as one of the most important academic conference­s of the year.

The first lecture was delivered by Dr Keith Buhagiar, a Ph.D. graduate in archaeolog­y from the University of Malta who specialise­s in central Mediterran­ean medieval and Early Modern cul- tural landscape developmen­t. He delivered a very interestin­g talk on Malta’s rock-cut churches and drew comparison­s with similar landmarks in southern Sicily.

Dr Buhagiar’s presentati­on was followed by an equally interestin­g presentati­on by Dr Kayoko Ichikawa from the University of Fribourg on the religious and political contexts for the disseminat­ion of the Marian cult of the Virgin’s heavenly coronation as depicted in medieval art. This was followed by Professor Mario Buhagiar’s talk on the Madonna suckling the Child at the Mdina Cathedral, which is venerated under the title of the Virgin of St Luke.

In the second half of the conference, Professor Michele Bacci discussed the dynamics of cultural and artistic exchange in Hospitalle­r Rhodes between 1310 and 1522, a discussion which engaged quite a few people followed by Dr Vella whose presentati­on discussed the attributio­n of a Renaissanc­e triptych in the Mdina Cathedral Museum Collection portraying the Madonna del Soccorso to Salvo d’Antonio or a close follower. In her thesis, Dr Vella proposed that this triptych, that is heavily over painted and which requires urgent conservati­on and restoratio­n, should be attributed to Salvo d’Antonio’s cousin, Antonio de Saliba.

The final interventi­on was delivered by Professor Peter Humfrey, considered as one of the leading scholars on the art of Renaissanc­e Venice. Professor Humfrey discussed Cyprus’ importance to the Venetian Republic. The Venetians appreciate­d Cyprus as a colony especially because it is the mythical birthplace of the goddess of love, Venus. This talk explored how the Venetians used Cyprus and Venus as part of their political propaganda.

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