The Malta Society of Arts has awarded Keith Sciberras the Gold Medal 2024 in recognition of his achievements in the field of History of Art and for his contribution towards the conservation of Palazzo de La Salle.
The award will be given by President of Malta Myriam Spiteri Debono during a private ceremony taking place on Thursday 5th December.
Prof. Sciberras was commissioned by the Malta Society of Arts to produce a historical timeline report on Palazzo de La Salle. He was also the project manager for the conservation of the Sala dei Cavalieri.
A historian and curator, Prof. Sciberras is a professor of art history at the Department of Art and Art History at University of Malta (UM).
At UM he is also the Rector’s Delegate for the University’s Historic Buildings and works of art, responsible for the UM Gallery of Art.
He is a member of the University Senate (2014–present) and was Head of the Department of Art and Art History between 2012 and 2022. He is also the Coordinator of the Caravaggio Studies Project.
Prof. Sciberras has published extensively on Roman Baroque sculpture and Italian Baroque painting and is the author of a corpus of essays in leading academic journals and has written several books. These include Caravaggio: Art, Knighthood and Malta (with David Stone; 2006), Melchiorre Cafà – Maltese Genius of the Roman Baroque (2006), Baroque Painting in Malta (2009), Mattia Preti: The Triumphant Manner (2012), Mattia Preti: Life and Works (2020), and Art as Life: Caravaggio – Malta (2023).
In the area of Roman Baroque sculptures, he has researched and established patterns and mechanics of patronage for major works of art, leading to the identification of significant works in Malta by prominent figures in Italian art, including Alessandro Algardi, Ciro Ferri, Domenico Guidi, Gio Batta Contini, Antonio Arrighi, and Vincenzo Pacetti.
On paintings from the Baroque era, Prof. Sciberras focused on Caravaggio, Mattia Preti, and other key figures of art in Malta. The understanding of Caravaggio’s final years, especially his time in Naples, Malta, and Sicily, “has been significantly shaped by Sciberras’s studies,” the Arts Society shared.
Throughout his career he delivered lectures at major universities, museums, and art institutions in Europe and the USA, including the prestigious Sydney J. Freedberg Lecture on Italian Art at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, in 2024.
A former Trustee of the Association of Art Historians (AAH), and Andrew W. Mellon Senior Fellow in the Department of European Paintings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Prof.Sciberras has contributed to numerous international research projects and exhibitions on Italian Baroque art, including the milestone Caravaggio: The Final Years (Naples-London, 2004-2005).
He has curated, among others, Caravaggio and Paintings of Realism in Malta (Valletta 2007) and co-curated (with Vittoria Sgarbi) Il Cavalier Calabrese – Mattia Preti tra Caravaggio e Luca Giordano (Torino 2013).
He was also co-curator and team leader of the Malta Pavilion for La Biennale di Venezia 2022, with a project entitled Diplomazija Astuta (lead artist: Arcangelo Sassolino). Among other exhibitions, he curated Arcangelo Sassolino – Sconfinamenti (UM Gallery of Art, 2023) and Inwahhdu (MUZA, 2024).
His interests lie mainly in immersive experiences and in the dialogue between contemporary art and the old masters. He is the recipient of the Premio Pio Alferano (2021), a Cavaliere della Stella d’Italia (2023), Vice-President of the Casino Maltese (2022–present), and Vice-President and Research Director of the Società Dante Alighieri, Comitato di Malta (2019–present).
