University of Malta’s Prof. Sebastiano D’Amico, Head of Department of Geosciences, and Dr Charlene Vella, Senior Lecturer from the Art and Art History Department together with their teams participated in the 2023 IMEKO International Conference on Metrology for Archaeology and Cultural Heritage that was held in Rome between 19 and 21 October 2023 at the Università Roma Tre.
Over the last eight years, MetroArchaeo has successfully brought together researchers and operators in the enhancement, characterisation and preservation of archaeological and cultural heritage with the main objective of discussing production, interpretation and reliability of measurements and data. Over 200 academics from various disciplines attended the conference.
Together with Dr Keith Buhagiar, Dr Emanuele Colica, Dr Luca Piroddi, Luciano Galone and Michaele Zammit, Prof. D’Amico and Dr Vella presented a paper titled ‘Fading devotion: the case of the Late Medieval cave-church of San Niklaw (ca. 1398-1436) in Mellieha, Malta’.
This paper focused on the Late Medieval cave-church that overlooks the fertile Valley of San Niklaw which employed a multidisciplinary approach. This study aimed to properly understand the artistic and cultural significance of the San Niklaw cave-church as well as to document the site which is prone to further decay or complete loss. This was done through scans that were used to create digital modelling and hypothetical reconstructions of the cave-church. The process incorporated visual observations as well as digital and scientific techniques like XRF, GPR, and 3D photogrammetry to capture and analyse artistic and historical elements, interpretation, and understanding of the site. These non-invasive methods contributed to the digital humanities which document remains, thus preserving the physical and contextual state, as well as proposing what the site looked like when it knew its origins, without ever intervening on site.
Dr Charlene Vella presented another paper titled ‘An art-historical and scientific investigation into two Early Cinquecento Renaissance Polyptychs by Antonio de Saliba (1466/7 – c. 1535) on Sicily and Malta’. This was based on research that was carried out together with Art History Graduate and MA candidate at the University of Malta, Andrea Luca Bartolo. This too dealt with the digital humanities with the reconstructions of the two altarpieces by the Messinese artist Antonio de Saliba in question: one for Taormina and the other for Rabat, Malta.
The recent identification by Dr Vella of six privately owned panel paintings in Malta that are associated with Saliba's now dismembered 1515 titular altarpiece for the Franciscan Observant Church in Rabat, Malta, along with the two central panels of the same altarpiece that are found within the church, has made it possible to fill in gaps in art historical research on Renaissance art in Malta. It also allowed for comparisons with Antonio's documented 1503-04 Taormina Polyptych, simultaneously generating new interest in this work, particularly for its elaborate Late Gothic gilded framework.
This paper aimed to digitally and hypothetically reconstruct the Rabat Polyptych’s framework hypothetically, using a similar approach to that employed for the digital reconstruction of the Taormina work. Additionally, the paper interpreted and discussed the findings from various scientific analyses of the panels' current state of preservation and pigment composition in relation to the field of conservation. The Taormina altarpiece - that has long been regarded as one of the artist's most important works - can, through the hypothetical digital reconstruction be better appreciated for its fine detailing particularly in the elaborate framework that survives in a fragmentary state.
Moreover, the reconstruction of the Rabat altarpiece can help for the general public to better appreciate the importance of this altarpiece, which was certainly the largest Renaissance altarpiece in Malta of grand proportions composed of a gilded framework with fine detailing.
Prof. D’Amico also chaired one of the special sessions titled “Multiscale and multitemporal high resolution remote sensing and non-destructive testing for archaeology and monumental heritage: from research to preservation†which gathered her forty papers by authors from across the globe.
Metro Archaeo served as an ideal platform for academics and researchers from different fields to come together and exchange ideas about their research and discoveries. It acknowledged for encouraging interdisciplinary discourse, fostering creative ideas, and nurturing collaborative efforts. Rome, with its wealth of cultural sites, provided an extraordinary backdrop for a conference that celebrates the convergence of science with archaeology and art history.
