Valencia exhibition features painting from St John's Co-Cathedral

A Mattia Preti painting depicting St George on Horseback, normally displayed at St John's Co-Cathedral, has been shipped to Spain to form part of an exhibition organised by the Cultural Secretariat of Valencia entitled James I, Memory and Historical Myth.

The exhibition is being held to commemorate the 800^th anniversary of the birth of King James. It will run from November 27 to February 11.

St John's Co-Cathedral Foundation said the painting hangs in the chapel of the Langue of Aragona, Catalogna and Navarra in St John’s Co-Cathedral. It was commissioned by Grand Master De Redin and was executed in 1655-56 in Naples and subsequently sent to Malta.

The Chapel of the Langue of Aragon, Catalogna and Navarra was dedicated to St George, whose relics, it is believed, assisted the victory of the Crusaders at Jerusalem at the time of the foundation of the Knights Hospitaller. The painting depicts the valiant St George on horseback in the process of heroically rescuing a maiden from a dragon terrorizing the town of Selina in Libya. Above angels carry the insigna of the Knights of the Langue of Aragon.

The background scene is thought to be the Battle of El Puig which was a key event in the history of Valencia as it led to the creation of the Kingdom of Valencia by James I.

In 2005 the painting was restored with assistance of the Istituto Centrale per il Restauro in Rome.

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Comments

George Portelli (on 20/11/08)

@ Frans Sammut

Valenica isn't a Catalan city but its the main city of the Valencia Region, south of Catalunya. The Valencia region is known also as Levante.

Frans Sammut (on 20/11/08)

It may be of interest to the Valencia authorities to know we have a chapel in Zebbug dedicated to "Il-Madonna ta' l-Abbandunati" (no-one has changed the ta' l- yet!) as a small replica of their own "Santa Maria de los abandonados". Inscriptions inside the chapel are in Catalan - something they would be delighted to discover. All merits should go to the Aragonese Grand Master who wanted to have such a chapel in honour of the great Catalan city of Valencia.