That De Valette’s sword and dagger are going to be returned to Malta, on loan from the Louvre Museum on the occasion of Valletta’s European Capital of Culture 2018 is good news.

But the sword and dagger belong by right to Malta and should remain in Malta. It is a universally known fact that these were looted from Malta by Napoleon’s republican clique in 1798. There is a very good reason why these precious and historical items, a gift from King Phiip 11 of Spain to De Valette in recognition of the Grandmaster’s valour during the 1565 siege of Malta by the Ottoman Emperor Suleiman the Magnificent, should be returned to Malta.

One may quote the example of flagrant looting of works of art from museums in France, Italy and Poland by the Nazis which were subsequently returned to their legitimate owners after the war.

The Government of Malta should make a case through diplomatic channels for the permanent return of the sword and the dagger, together with Caravaggio’s portrait of Aloph de Wignacourt accompanied by a page which is also at the Louvre, to their rightful owner: Malta.