Editing Malta (section)

===Art===

Towards the end of the 15th century, Maltese artists, like their counterparts in Sicily, came under the influence of the School of [[Antonello da Messina]], which introduced [[Renaissance]] ideals and concepts to the decorative arts in Malta.<ref name="hopeandoptimism1">{{Cite web |last=Cutajar, D. |title=An Overview of the Art of Malta |url=http://www.hopeandoptimism.com/essay.htm  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081206001808/http://www.hopeandoptimism.com/essay.htm |archive-date=6 December 2008 |access-date=31 March 2009 |website=The Hope and Optimism Portfolio}}</ref>

[[File:The Siege of Malta- Flight of the Turks, 13 September 1565 RMG L9745.jpg|thumb|''The Siege of Malta&nbsp;– Flight of the Turks'', by [[Matteo Perez d'Aleccio]]]]

The artistic heritage of Malta blossomed under the [[Knights Hospitaller|Knights of St. John]], who brought Italian and Flemish [[Mannerist]] painters to decorate their palaces and the churches of these islands, most notably, [[Matteo Perez d'Aleccio]], whose works appear in the [[Grandmaster's Palace in Valletta|Magisterial Palace]] and in the [[St. John's Co-Cathedral|Conventual Church of St. John]] in Valletta, and Filippo Paladini, who was active in Malta from 1590 to 1595. For many years, Mannerism continued to inform the tastes and ideals of local Maltese artists.<ref name="hopeandoptimism1" />

The arrival in Malta of [[Caravaggio]], who painted at least seven works during his 15-month stay on these islands, further revolutionised local art. Two of Caravaggio's most notable works, ''[[The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist (Caravaggio)|The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist]]'' and ''[[Saint Jerome Writing (Valletta)|Saint Jerome Writing]]'', are on display in the Conventual Church of St. John. His legacy is evident in the works of local artists Giulio Cassarino and [[Stefano Erardi]]. However, the [[Baroque]] movement that followed was destined to have the most enduring impact on Maltese art and architecture. The vault paintings of the Calabrese artist [[Mattia Preti]] transformed the Conventual Church St. John into a Baroque masterpiece. [[Melchiorre Cafà|Melchior Gafà]] emerged as one of the top Baroque sculptors of the Roman School.<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Medina |first=Ashley Marie |title=Melchiorre Cafà and Camillo Pamphilj: The Art of Patronage in Seventeenth-Century Rome |date=June 2015 |access-date=2 August 2024 |degree=Master of Arts |publisher=[[UC Riverside]] |url=https://www.proquest.com/openview/ef0ceaa780966f1127433fffb784dec7/}}</ref>

[[File:'Still Life of Pomegranates, Peaches, Apples and other Fruit' by Francesco Noletti.jpg|thumb|[[Francesco Noletti]]'s ''Still Life of Pomegranates, Peaches and other Fruits'']]

During the 17th and 18th century, [[Naples|Neapolitan]] and [[Rococo]] influences emerged in the works of the Italian painters [[Luca Giordano]] and [[Francesco Solimena]], and these developments can be seen in the work of their Maltese contemporaries such as [[Gio Nicola Buhagiar]] and [[Francesco Zahra]]. The Rococo movement was greatly enhanced by the relocation to Malta of [[Antoine de Favray]], who assumed the position of court painter to Grand Master Pinto in 1744.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Antoine Favray And his works  |url=https://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2008-03-26/news/antoine-favray-and-his-works-205443/ |date=26 March 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190619120019/http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2008-03-26/news/antoine-favray-and-his-works-205443 |archive-date=19 June 2019 |access-date=17 January 2020 |website=The Malta Independent}}</ref>

[[Neo-classicism]] made some inroads among local Maltese artists in the late-18th century, but this trend was reversed in the early 19th century, as the local Church authorities&nbsp;– perhaps in an effort to strengthen Catholic resolve against the perceived threat of Protestantism during the early days of British rule in Malta&nbsp;– favoured and avidly promoted the religious themes embraced by the [[Nazarene movement]]. [[Romanticism]], tempered by the naturalism introduced to Malta by [[Giuseppe Calì]], informed the "salon" artists of the early 20th century, including Edward and Robert Caruana Dingli.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Petroni |first=Nikki |date=12 February 2017 |title=Intimacy and Introspection |url=https://www.pressreader.com/malta/the-malta-independent-on-sunday/20170212/282544428053095 |access-date=17 January 2020 |website=The Malta Independent |archive-date=3 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210203120207/https://www.pressreader.com/malta/the-malta-independent-on-sunday/20170212/282544428053095 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Parliament established the National School of Art in the 1920s. During the reconstruction period that followed the Second World War, the emergence of the "Modern Art Group", whose members included Josef Kalleya, George Preca, Anton Inglott, [[Emvin Cremona]], [[Frank Portelli (artist)|Frank Portelli]], [[Antoine Camilleri (artist)|Antoine Camilleri]], [[Gabriel Caruana]] and [[Esprit Barthet]] greatly enhanced the local art scene. This group came together forming an influential pressure group known as the Modern Art Group, which played a leading role in the renewal of Maltese art. Most of Malta's modern artists have in fact studied in Art institutions in England, or on the continent, leading to a diversity of artistic expression that has remained characteristic of contemporary Maltese art. In Valletta, the [[National Museum of Fine Arts, Malta|National Museum of Fine Arts]] featured work from artists such as [[H. Craig Hanna]].<ref name="MaltaInd">[http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2006-04-23/news/right-outside-my-window-90329/ "Right Outside my Window"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140416182555/http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2006-04-23/news/right-outside-my-window-90329/ |date=16 April 2014 }}, ''The Malta Independent'', 23 April 2006. Retrieved 11 June 2014</ref> In 2018 the national collection of fine arts was put on display in the new National Museum of Art, [[MUŻA]], at [[Auberge d'Italie]] in Valletta.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Updated: New museum for contemporary artists opened in Valletta |first1= Giulia |last1=Magri |date=10 November 2018 |url=http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2018-11-10/local-news/New-museum-for-contemporary-artists-opened-in-Valletta-6736199157 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190212070513/http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2018-11-10/local-news/New-museum-for-contemporary-artists-opened-in-Valletta-6736199157 |archive-date=12 February 2019 |access-date=11 February 2019 |website=The Malta Independent}}</ref>