Caravaggio's in Valletta and an evening Free Tour

Wednesday March 7 started out sunny with a high of 17C. It became cloudy in the afternoon and there was a surprise brief rainfall at around 4:30 p.m.

We started our day with a coffee at Lot Sixty One and then made our way to St. John's Co-Cathedral, where we spent a few hours.

Late morning photo of the new Market building across from the coffee shop

Walking in front of Valletta Library- lots of temporary sculptures for Valletta 2018 celebrations

Alain in front of sculpture- "In one ear and out of the Other"

Outside of the entrance to the Cathedral is a Monument to the Great Siege. The monument, the work of a Maltese sculptor Antonio Sciortino, was inaugurated in 1927 to commemorate the victims of the Great Siege of 1565. The three figures represent Faith, Civilization and Valour.

The Great Siege Monument

There was a makeshift memorial with candles and flowers placed at the monument in commemoration of Daphne Caruana Galizia, the Maltese investigative journalist killed by a car bomb in October 2017.

Memorial for Daphne Caruana Galizia

The monument is opposite the Courts of Justice building. Three men have been charged with the assassination and are awaiting trial.

The Courts of Justice- beautiful neoclassical building built between 1965-71 on the site of Auberge d'Auvergne which had been destroyed by bombs during WWII

St. John's Co-Cathedral was designed by the architect Gerolamo Caesar and built between 1573-78, and became the place where the Order of the Knights of St. John would gather for communal worship for over 200 years. The austere outside is the complete opposite of the inside which was revamped in the 17th century in Maltese baroque style.

The Grand Masters and Knights donated lavish gifts and works of art by leading artists over the years. The Knights were noblemen from the most important families of Europe and part of their mission was to protect the Catholic faith from the attacks of the Ottoman Turks. The Order was founded in Jerusalem as a religious brotherhood. They did good works but were also dedicated to defending Christianity and were in constant warfare with the Ottoman Turks. After losing their military bases in Jerusalem and then in Rhodes, the Order was given Malta in 1530 by Emperor Charles V of Spain. Their new location attracted the attention of the Ottomans and they were attacked in 1565. The Great Siege, while inflicting many hardships, ended with a victory for the Knights. The reigning Grand Master, Jean de La Valetta, ordered the building of a new city including a place for the Order's Church.

The austere outside has the character of a fortress reflecting the sober mood of the Order after the Great Siege.

Outside of St. John's Co-Cathedral-- very austere (tourists enter in back behind the monument to the Great Siege)

Another sculpture outside the Cathedral "The hasty cat brings forth blind kittens."
"Hasty decisions or work done in a hurry often result in mistakes."

The interior has a wide nave with a barrel vault and two aisles divided into chapels that were designated to the eight langues of the Order. In the 17th century, Grand Master Cotoner ordered the redecoration of the interior of the Cathedral just as High Baroque was coming into fashion. The Calabrian artist Mattia Preti transformed the interior into a celebration of Baroque. He depicted the life of St. John the Baptist, the patron saint of the Order, on the vault. The contrast of the simple and sober facade and the exuberant interior makes St. John's a unique monument.

Just entering the Cathedral- every inch covered with rich ornamentation

The interior of the Cathedral is spectacular--- the barrel vault decorated with scenes from the life of St. John the Baptist is amazing.

View of Barrel Vault

The barrel vault decorated by Preti with scenes from the life of St. John the Baptist

This scene which is the Allegory of the Order depicts the victory of the Knights after the Great Siege

Closer view of detail of the vault

The inlaid floors of the Cathedral consist of a collection of tombstones. There are over 400 of them. Many of the important Knights are buried here. The imaginative use of symbols and heraldic devices makes the floor a unique treasure. Most popular are the image of death represented as a skeleton often with a sickle and hourglass and the angel of fame blowing a trumpet. Several tombstones detail the individual stories of the Knights. They date from the early 17th century to the 19th century.

The side chapels were designated to the eight langues of the Order representing different regions of Europe. Several contain some of the most impressive funerary monuments of the Grand Masters in marble and bronze and are works of art in their own right. The langues were quite competitive each trying to outdo the other in the decoration of the chapels. The cathedral is overwhelming and definitely required a considerable amount of time to thoroughly see the art and decoration. There was also a very detailed and excellent audio guide in English that is part of the admission price.

From the chapel of the Langue of Germany

German eagle design from the chapel of the Langue of Germany

From the Langue of Italy

Tombstone from the Langue of France-- note fleurs de lys

From the Chapel of the Langue of Provence- St. Michael Archangel

From the Chapel of the Anglo-Bavarian Langue

This monument to Nicolas Cotoner (1608-1680) depicts the triumph of the order over Asia and African slaves

The Sanctuary-- amazing lamp in the foreground, adorned with a large sculptural group representing the baptism of Christ by Giuseppe Mazzuoli, a leading sculptor of the High Baroque era

The piece de resistance are the two paintings done by Michelangelo Merisi (1573-1610) known as Caravaggio, found in the Oratory. The Oratory was built in 1603 as a place for novices and later redecorated by Preti. Today its main attractions are the two Caravaggio paintings. The alter piece, which depicts the "Beheading of St. John the Baptist", is the largest painting Caravaggio produced and is the only one known to be signed. The signature is apparently discernible in the blood from St. John's throat. The chiaroscuro technique and the lighting are incredible as are the realistic figures.

Caravaggio made Malta his refuge when he became a fugitive from Papal authority for committing a murder in Rome in 1606. He had first fled to Naples but after only a few months he left for Malta. He had been encouraged to travel to Malta, knowing that the Order was seeking a court painter. He was granted hospitality by the Knights of St. John. He painted a number of works for the Order and was inducted into its ranks as a Knight of Grace. However, following a violent brawl, he was incarcerated at Fort St. Angelo in Valletta, managed to escape the prison and then was expelled from the Order at a meeting held in the Oratory in front of his masterpiece. He made his way to Sicily and then returned to Naples in 1609. He died in 1610 in mysterious circumstances. Human remains found in a church in Porto Ercole in Tuscany in 2010 are believed to belong to Caravaggio, following DNA and other analyses.

The Beheading of St. John the Baptist 1608

In its setting

The other work in the Oratory depicts "St. Jerome Writing"-- a masterpiece in its own right.

St. Jerome writing

It was almost 3:30 p.m. when we left the Cathedral. We decided to grab a quick bite at the new Market. We picked a stall that featured Maltese food and shared a platter of olives, caponata and sun-dried tomatoes with roasted bread.

Alain in front of our lunch platter

We wandered around a bit and found our way to St. George's Square. The Grandmaster's Palace is on one side of the square and it currently houses the office of the President of Malta. It was built between the 16th and 17th centuries as the palace of the Grand Master of the Order of St. John. It had been the seat of the Parliament of Malta from 1921-2015.

Guards outside of the Grandmaster's Palace

On the wall is a plaque commemorating the issuance of the George Cross to the people of Malta in 1942

Another plaque from Roosevelt in 1943

Outside of the Grandmaster's Palace

There was another monument in St. George's Square- the Sette Giugno monument which commemorates the four Maltese killed in June 1919 protests for independence. Soldiers shot on an unarmed crowd which had gathered to protest against British rule. This event led to major changes including the granting of Self Government in 1921. The monument was inaugurated in 1986, and is the work of Anton Agilus.

1919 Monument in St. George's Square

Street with Canadian flag-- we'll check this out

We stopped by the apartment to get an umbrella as it had just started to rain. We had registered to take a Free Valletta tour at 5:00 p.m. which was meeting at the new City Gate.

Meeting at the stairs near the Gate- Parliament Building on the left side

Jennifer- our guide

Jennifer was our guide- she had been born in Australia, but has spent most of her life in Malta. She teaches and leads this tour on the side. She was very knowledgeable and personable. There were about 20 people in the tour, a number from Germany and Britain and then folks from Serbia, Bulgaria, and Spain. Only one couple from the US and we were the only Canadians. She talked about the Renzo Piano project- noting that the new City Gate and Parliamentary building were still controversial in Valletta. We walked to the Piano renovation of a bombed theatre site into an open air theatre. This is also controversial as the theatre can not be used year round due to the weather.

View of the open-air theatre

There is also a restoration project of a new art gallery. In front of the gallery was a statue of Jean de la Vallette, the Grand Master during the Great Siege and after whom the City is named. He is pictured with a map (setting out the plans for the city) and a sword- for his military prowess.

Jean de la Valette

We walked to the Prime Minister's offices which have been housed in another former Grand Master's palace- the Auberge de Castille, since 1972.

Prime Minister's Offices

Jennifer pointed out the PM's car idling outside.

PM's car

We walked by the Stock Exchange building.

Stock Exchange

Our next stop was the Upper Barrakka Gardens. These gardens are located high above the Grand Harbour and were created in the late 16th century as a relaxing haven for the Knights from the nearby Auberge d'italia.

Part of the Gardens

There are a number of statues in the Gardens.

Les Cavroches- 1907 (figures from Hugo's Les Miserables)

The statue of Winston Churchill is interesting. It was a originally a gift to Churchill and was done when he was 80 years old. He returned the statue to Malta. The speculation is that he did not like any paintings or sculptures depicting him as old.

Plaque in memory of Albert Einstein

Luckily the rain had stopped and we had a spectacular view of the Grand Harbour, the nearby three Cities of Vittoriosa, Single and Cospicua, and a large ship building facility. Jennifer pointed out sights where many films had been shot. Valletta was used for scenes from Munich, Game of Thrones and the recent version of Murder on the Orient Express (which ironically I had just seen in the plane coming over). Other cities in Malta have also been used for film sites.

View of Fort and shipbuilding facility

We then walked to the building housing Foreign Affairs, which also was a former auberge where Napoleon had stayed for seven nights in 1798. There was a plaque on the wall commemorating that event.

We headed back to Republic Square in front of the Library and the Cafe Cordina. A statue of Queen Victoria was installed in 1891 giving the square the alternate name of Piazza Regina, which it is commonly referred to today. While Queen Victoria never visited Malta, she was a great promoter of Malta lace.

Queen Victoria

We then headed to St. George's Square. Jennifer pointed out a stone with a hole in the square under a plexiglass cover. It was used for carnival Maypole games in the time of the Knights of St. John. It was discovered in 2009, when the Square was being refurbished.

At the end of our 90 minute tour, Jennifer took us for a walk down Strait street, which narrows as it goes downhill. It was the scene of many bars and brothels in the 20th century, frequented by sailors, but has now been turned into a hip restaurant and bar scene. We are staying near the top of the street. We chatted with Jennifer for a bit at the end of the tour and then headed back to the apartment.

Another sign in one of the side streets.... actually this time of year the streets are very quite.

After a brief rest at the apartment, we headed out for dinner at a wine bar at the top of Strait Street. It is called Trabuxu, which means corkscrew. It was a lovely place with a small menu of very good meats and cheeses and wine.