The formerly lavishly decorated chapel of the Langue of France, inside the Knights of St John’s conventual church (now co-cathedral) of St John in Valletta suffered drastic alterations and downgrading in the 19th century, reportedly under the Maltese artist Hyzler. Were the Republican French authorities, our Maltese forebears, or our British governors responsible for this drastic and vindictive alteration?

The original chapel must have been one of St John’s co-cathedral’s most beautiful chapels before then.

I understand that this chapel was, during Valletta’s bombing, severely hit during World War II.

Although the French kings’s emblem, the Fleur-de-Lys or ‘lily flower’, is still represented in the decoration of this chapel, the altar prospect is plain and simple in the extreme.

It jars with the rich baroque decoration of this magnificent baroque church.

Maybe some of your expert readers can elucidate on this matter.