May 25, 2015
Dr Theresa Vella will deliver a public lecture titled "Hospitaller Piety and Ritual in the Palace of the Grand Master." The lecture will be held at Palazzo Santa Sofia, Mdina (just a few doors down from Palazzo Falson) on Wednesday 3rd June 2015 at 6.30pm. The lecture is organised by the International Institute for Baroque Studies in collaboration with Palazzo Falson Historic House Museum.
The Hospitaller knight’s religious life formed an intrinsic part of the identity of the military and religious noblemen of the Order of St John yet their practice of private religious devotion has received little academic attention. Dr Theresa Vella will present her study on the private religious devotion of the Knights of St John, through an understanding of Hospitaller values of charity and mercy and through the works of art found in the art collections of Knights of the Order. She will also demonstrate how the art and architecture of the chapels in the Palace of the Grand Master afford a view onto the expression of piety in the private life of the most eminent of Hospitaller knights, and onto public religious rituals expressed within the halls and chambers of the piano nobile of the Magistral Palace.
Dr Theresa Vella lectures in Baroque Art at the International Institute of Baroque Studies, University of Malta. For further information please contact the International Institute of Baroque Studies on andre.debattista@um.edu.mt or 2340 2772.
