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According to Michael Ellul’s book on Fort St Elmo, the carving illustrated in the picture was brought to Malta by the Order of St John from Rhodes.

For a long time, it was placed in the chapel of St Anne at Fort St Elmo but when the church dedicated to St Anne was built in the same fort in the early 18th century, this carving, reduced to an oval shape from its original rectangular shape, was transferred to the church.

When Ellul’s book was published in 1988, he wrote that the carving was being restored at the time.

It is certainly not back inside the church, so, like many others, I would be greatly interested in finding out its present location in the hope that it is also accessible to interested viewers.

The illustration is from The Order’s early legacy in Malta, edited by John Azzopardi and published in 1989.