Grand Master Jean de Valette will hold the city’s plan in one hand and the sword of victory in the other when his statue is erected close to the entrance to the capital that adopted his name some 500 years ago.

A miniature model of a 2.5 metre bronze statue of the Grand Master, which will be erected in the new St Catherine Square, almost opposite the foundation stone of Valletta, was unveiled yesterday at the Transport Ministry.

The 700 kilogramme statue, the work of sculptor Joseph Chetcuti, will form part of the City Gate project. The statue shows the Grand Master, wearing armour underneath a tabard, in motion, as if striding.

The face was modelled on an image on de Valette’s tomb at St John’s Co-Cathedral, in Valletta.

It will take Mr Chetcuti until September to complete the clay model, which would later be cast in gypsum and wax before it is cast in bronze by March. Seven people would be working on the final casting stages.

Mr Chetcuti, 51, studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti, in Florence. He delved in the world of art when he turned 13 and set up a foundry about 20 years ago.

His work included the replica of Antonio Sciortino’s Les Gavroches at the Upper Barakka Garden in Valletta and the replica of the face of Christ on the facade of St John’s Co-Cathedral.

He modelled and cast the Charles Clews bust in Marsascala and that of Grand Master Jean Paul Lascaris found at the Palais Lascaris in Nice, France.

Transport Minister Austin Gatt yesterday signed the deed whereby Lombard Bank agreed to fund the work on the de Valette statue.

Bank CEO Joe Said noted that the bank was proud to fund the statue of “an icon in Maltese history”.