Public lecture promotes Renaissance connections between Malta and Messina

Charlene Vella, a senior lecturer in the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Malta, was recently invited to deliver a public lecture in Messina, Sicily.
The lecture, delivered at Messina’s town hall, was titled Il Rinascimento a Malta: i contatti artistici con Messina e Antonello.
In her lecture, Vella explored the connections that exist between Malta and Messina through the lives and the 15 works executed by the nephews of the Italian Renaissance artist Antonello da Messina, Antonio de Saliba and Salvo d’Antonio, as well as the connection between the Observant Franciscans in Rabat and Messina.
The lecture was organised as part of a collaborative project between the universities of Messina, Naples, Cagliari and Palermo dealing with the cultural legacy of the Renaissance in the south of Italy and the islands.
It was coordinated by Roberto Cobianchi, lecturer in medieval art history at the Università degli Studi di Messina’s Dipartimento di Civiltà Antiche e Moderne, and held under the auspices of Messina’s mayor, Federico Basile, and that of the Assessore alla cultura, Enzo Caruso.

“The aim of this lecture was not only to highlight some of the connections...