Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Saint.John Co-Cathedral, Valletta, Malta

St John's Co-Cathedral (MalteseKon-Katidral ta' San Ġwann) is a Roman Catholic co-cathedral in VallettaMalta, dedicated to Saint John the Baptist. It was built by the Order of St. John between 1572 and 1577.
The church was designed by the Maltese architect Girolamo Cassar, who was also responsible for the construction of many important buildings in Valletta.































 The painting depicting The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist (1608) by Caravaggio (1571–1610) is the most famous work in the church. Considered one of Caravaggio's masterpieces, the largest canvas he painted and the only painting signed by the painter, the canvas is displayed in the Oratory for which it was painted. Restored in the late 1990s in Florence, this painting is one of Caravaggio's most impressive uses of the chiaroscuro style for which he is most famous with a circle of light illuminating the scene of St John's beheading at the request of Salome.










Saturday, April 25, 2020

Mdina, Malta

Mdina , also known by its titles Città Vecchia or Città Notabile, is a fortified city in the Northern Region of Malta, which served as the island's capital from antiquity to the medieval period. The city is still confined within its walls, and has a population of just under 300.The city remained the capital of Malta throughout the Middle Ages, until the arrival of the Order of St. John in 1530.Mdina remained the centre of the Maltese nobility and religious authorities (and property continues to largely be passed down from families and from generation to generation), but it never regained its pre-1530 importance, giving rise to the popular nickname the "Silent City" by both locals and visitors.