St Elmo Lighthouse

In my search for Maltese landmarks which are no more I fancied the picture of one showing a lighthouse that existed just before my time. The shot was a close up of the Fort St Elmo light which was so prominent at the lower end of the Valletta peninsula. At the onset of WWII the British dismantled it in fear of it being used as a bearing point by the enemy. I had come across different shots of this lighthouse from different angles from land and sea but all showed it too far away to be an interesting subject for my painting.

Jiena w’infittex xeni mportanti Maltin li m’ghadhomx jezistu, ghogobni ritratt juri fanal ta qabel zmieni. Dan kien migbud mill-vicin u juri d-dawl li kien hemm fuq il-forti Sant’Iermu prominenti fil-ponta t’isfel tal-belt Valletta. Ghall-bidu tat-tieni gwerra, l-Inglizi hattewh ghax bezghu illi sta jservi ta direzzjoni ghall-ghadu. Gew f’idejja ritratti differenti ta dan il-fanal minn irjihat differenti kemm mill-art ukoll mill-bahar izda f’kollha kien jidher ‘il boghod wisq ghalija biex jinteressani npittru.

The picture I used was a little bit drab with few shadows to enhance it. Now I have to say I love vivid colours especially in nature and when is best to observe them if not at sunrise or sunset! I do have many pieces with the bright colours of sunset but this one was typical for conversion. Since the orientation is towards the east it had to be a sunrise this time. I used lots of different reds and bright orange with dashes of yellow, purple and blue and St Elmo’s lighthouse came to life in vivid colour.

Ir-ritratt li wzajt kien daqsxejn imcajpar b’dellijiet mill-anqas jaqalghuh. Hawn irrid nghid illi jiena nhobb ilwien qawwijja l-aktar fin-natura u meta l-aktar nista narahom milli fil-hin ta tlugh jew inzul-ix-xemx! Ghamilt hafna bicciet tal-arti bil-lwien jixghelu ta nzul-ix-xemx imma din ix-xena kienet f’postha ghal biex nibdilha. Billi r-ritratt ihares lejn il-lvant, kellha bilfors tkun tlugh ix-xemx did-darba. Uzajt hafna ahmar, orangjo jghajjat u naqriet ta isfar, vjola u ikhal u l-fanal ta Sant’Iermu beda jihu l-hajja.

There was a light shining from that spot for mariners since the Knights of St John took over in the early 16th century. Alexander George Findlay says in his 1864 book ‎Lighthouses, ‘The Light at St. Elmo's Castle, Malta, has been shown since 1551’. Another maritime book from early British rule gives us the exact reach of this light, how it was constructed, the timing of the flashes of light and its dominating of the harbour of Valletta, also that Fort St. Elmo dated from the 16th century. Keeping this in mind, the structure that the British took down was not the first one for sure.

Minn meta hadu l-pussess il-Kavalieri ta San Gwann fis-seklu 16, dejjem kien hemm fanal jati d-dawl ghall-bahhara f’din il-forti. Alexander George Findlay fil-ktieb tieghu tal-1864 fuq il-fanali jghid, ‘Id-dawl tal-kastell Sant’Iermu, Malta, kien diga jidher sa mill-1551’. Fi ktieb iehor ghall-bahhara tal-ewwel zminijiet li kien hawn l-Inglizi insibu kemm kien iwassal dan id-dawl, kif kien mibni, kemm kien idum mixghul jew mitfi u kemm kien f’pst prominenti fil-port tal-belt Valletta, ukoll illi kien ilu hemm sa mis-seklu 16. Jekk inzommu f’mohhna dan kollu nindunaw illi dik il-binja ta zmien l-Inglizi zgur li ma kinitx l-ewwel wahda.

Most of the fort is now a museum, and the rest was being restored after housing the Royal Malta Artillery and then the police Academy. St Elmo is located at the tip of the peninsula separating the Grand Harbour from the Marsamxett Harbour in Valletta. The lighthouse itself was set to be rebuilt in the process of all this restoration in time for the 2018 celebrations of Valletta being the European Capital of Culture for that year. This particular project of rebuilding it was for some reason put aside and all that remains nowadays is the round base atop the highest bastion of St Elmo. We do have at least an issue of a stamp from a few years ago with the same reference photo I used.

l-bicca l-kbira tal-forti llum-il gurnata hija Muzew u l-kumplament kien qieghed jigi rrestawrat wara li kien hemm fih l-ewwel is-suldati tar-Royal Malta Artillery, imbaghad l-akkademja tal-Pulizija. Sant’Iermu qieghed fil-ponta tal-belt Valletta li tissepara l-Port il-Kbir u dak ta Marsamxett. Il-fanal kien ippjanat illi jerggha jinbena fil-hin ghac-celebrazzjonijiet tal-2018 meta l-belt sa tkun iddikjarata l-Kapitali Ewropea tal-Kultura. Dan il-progett li jerggha jinbena l-fanal gie ghal xi raguni mwarrab u kulma sa nibqghu bih huwa l-bazi tond fuq l-aktar sur gholi ta Sant’Iermu. Ghandna talanqas rikordju ta bolla li harget ftit snin ilu li turi l-istess ritratt li wzajt jiena bhala riferenza.