The Many Lives of Ancient Objects: A Biographical Approach to the Metamorphosis of Antiquities in Early Modern Malta

Lecture by Dr Jonathon Borg

This lecture explores the processes by which antiquities in the Maltese Islands were transformed into historic monuments between the sixteenth and early twentieth centuries. Adopting an object biography approach, this study traces the afterlives of typologically diverse antiquities from their discovery through successive reinterpretations. Because such changes were often gradual, the study employs a broad temporal perspective to provide a clearer narrative of how and why certain objects were valued and monumentalized while others were overlooked. This research examines the behavioural patterns and human actions that collectively illuminate how antiquities were reimagined as historic monuments.