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Description: | The painting depicts a young Chaplain of the Order of St John holding a map of Malta. Although the sitter and artist have made quite an effort to include indicators of his identity, the key to these clues is now lost to us. The map is part of one in the museum's collection (LDOSJ:1321, cat. 54 in Maps of Malta), but exactly what its significance is, is not clear. It could be that the origins of the map's engraver, F. Donai of Messina, could also be the Chaplain's Priory of origin; the Priory of Messina, Barletta and Capua. Or maybe the date of the map, 1686, refers to the date of the Chaplain's acceptance into the Order. It is possible (though unlikely), that the Chaplain had some role in commissioning the map, or, all these details may simply be incidental and the map is used purely as a device to show the location of the headquarters of the Order that the Chaplain belongs to. Another mystery is the colour of his mantle; purple was worn by Holy See Prelates while celebrating mass, however, Prelates belonging to a religious order usually wore the colours of that order. It is possible that he had been given an appointment within the Holy See prior to being accepted by the Order of St John, however, this would almost certainly have been recorded in the rolls, putting the identity of the sitter beyond doubt. | Subjects: | portrait (Chaplain of the Order with map) | Source: | Vads | Creator: | Artist: Maltese School Æ | Identifier: | http://www.vads.ac.uk/large.php?uid=8599... | Go to resource |
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