New display for Malta Turner

The Malta Turner painting was yesterday moved to a new position within the National Museum of Fine Arts, in Valletta.

The painting has been on loan to the museum from HSBC since March, as part of an exhibition on this painting of the Grand Harbour executed in 1830 by England's foremost watercolourist, J. M.W. Turner, one of the most exceptional artists of the 19th century.

The new display of the Malta Turner was yesterday inaugurated by Arts Minister Jesmond Mugliett and HSBC chief executive officer Chris Hothersall.

Mr Mugliett said HSBC had a wealth of resources and expertise which could help in the transmission of a rich cultural heritage to the Maltese and those who visited Malta.

The agreement reached between HSBC and Heritage Malta for the Malta Turner to be displayed at the museum was the first example of a public-private partnership concluded by the new government agency. The agreement also involved refurbishment of the museum and the provision of new security features to enable the Malta Turner to go on display.

The painting, which depicts the view of the Grand Harbour from Fort Ricasoli, had been commissioned by engravers William and Edward Finden.

It served as a basis for an engraving in a book, published by John Murray, on the life and travels of the eminent poet Lord Byron, who visited Malta in 1809 and 1811.

The Malta Turner is a well travelled painting, having had at least 13 different owners, including the renowned writer, art critic, scholar and collector John Ruskin and Robert Durning Holt, who was Lord Mayor of Liverpool.

The National Museum of Fine Arts is open to the public Mondays to Saturdays between 8.15 a.m. and 5 p.m. and on Sundays from 8.15 a.m. to 4.15 p.m. Entrance is free.