The shipment of works of art to medieval Mdina, Malta

The sea can be an obstacle that accentuates the insularity of a small place like Malta. If overcome, then it becomes the main means of communication w ith the rest of humanity. This short communication purports to illustrate t his Braudelian thesis from the very narrow angle of art production and diss emination in the Maltese islands during the medieval period. At this time, the sole patron of the arts in Malta was the Church, with the Cathedral at Mdina its foremost exponent. It is shown how initial trade contacts with va rious ports on the northern Mediterranean littoral-Sicily, Catalunya, Venic e-developed into rich sources whence works of art, mainly commissioned by t he Mdina Cathedral, were shipped to Malta.