Architectural iconography during the rule of the Order of St John in Malta 1530-1798

Abstract

It is an undeniable state of fact that throughout the two and half centuries that the Order of St John came to occupy and rule the Maltese islands it radically transformed the urban landscape. Architecture and the construction of buildings intended to service the requirements of the Order, was the major generator of this transformation of the landscape. In this brief paper, I will argue that the architecture representative of the Order's rule was directly related to the political, social and economic circumstances prevailing at the time. Whereas the public buildings constructed during the early days of the Order in Malta reflect a marked degree of austerity and severity in their external appearance this was certainly not the case with the later eighteenth century buildings of the Order which are characterized by overt decoration that at times almost boarders on the exuberant and flamboyant. [Excerpt]