Cynthia De Giorgio: The Conventual Church of the Knights of Malta.
Midsea Publications, 2016 (revised edition). 144 pp.

Few churches in Malta – or in Europe, really – can compete with the splendour of St John’s Co-Cathedral. And it is exactly this splendour that The Conventual Church of the Knights of Malta, a Midsea Books publication, celebrates. This is the second edition of this book, which was first published in 2010 and has now been updated to include recent restoration works.

The 144-page hardback, written by Cynthia De Giorgio – who is also curator of the cathedral and its museum – offers readers a detailed journey through the art, architecture and history of Malta’s most famous holy building, with high-quality photography making the publication not only a good read, but also a great coffee-table book and conversation starter.

It will appeal to all those who find themselves intrigued by beauty and art served with a dash of history

Because, despite the decidedly unfrivolous nature of the topic, the book is a genuine good read. The writer has a knack for the narrative, presenting chapters that draw the reader into a visual tale, rather than tiring out with reams upon reams of historical detail. Not that the historical detail is not present, mind you. However, following the train of thought is far from a chore even for non-academics and those who aren’t necessarily history buffs.

The book kicks off with an intriguing tale about the knights’ order, the siege and Valletta, and how all these events resulted into the birth of the co-cathedral. A good introduction to the architecture of the building follows, without getting too technical, before what will undoubtedly be the most attractive part of the book for many kicks off – that detailing the vault paintings, the nave and the marble floor. These chapters, besides offering deep insight into the works of art that adorn the building, also reproduce the masterpieces themselves in glorious full colour, accompanied by annotations and descriptions. The effect, as the readers turns page upon page of superbly reproduced paintings, is pretty spectacular.

The chapter detailing Mattia Preti’s the Life of John the Baptist, which transforms the cathedral’s vault into one whole majestic master-piece, is particularly fascinating. The masterpiece fits across six bays, each divided into three sections and the book offers an explanation about every single section of each bay. The vault took six years to finish. De Giorgio explains how the artist created fake architecture throughout the entire vault in order to open the ceiling walls to accommodate 18 episodes from the life of St John.

The nave, a testament to the baroque style prevalent in those years on the island, receive the same treatment, and the tombstones on the marble floor receive the same treatment; some 400 tomb-stones commemorating some of the most illustrious knights of the order adorn the unique cathedral floor and we are told that each one of them is individually designed.

The book continues in the same vein with the sanctuary before moving on to the chapels, which is where you will want to spend a bit of time reading and re-reading and going back to the photo-graphy. The chapels are, perhaps, the most ‘mysterious’ areas of the cathedral.

Everyone is familiar with the incredible marble floor, but how many people are aware that the chapel of Italy was decorated at the prsonal expense of Fra Francesco Sylos, ambassador to the viceroy of Sicily?Or that the sculptural motifs in the French chapel are carved with the letter ‘L’ for Louis, the king of France? Not many, I bet.

The Conventual Church of the Knights of Malta will make a very valuable addition to the library of any Melitensia lover, but not only. It will appeal to all those who find themselves intrigued by beauty and art served with a dash of history.