Grand Harbour View, Valletta, Malta
This is a painting of a view of the Grand Harbour in Valletta, Malta, as seen from the Upper Barrakka Gardens. It is based on one of the many photos we took as the sun went down on the first night of our visit to Malta in January of 2019. An older man happened to be in one shot and the light struck him in a very dramatic way.
This harbour was the scene of many important historical events, including the Great Seige of Malta in 1565, the French occupation by Napoleon in 1798, and the Second Seige of Malta during WW2 when the city and harbour were blockaded and heavily bombed. Dug into the rocks beneath this viewpoint are the Lascaris War Rooms where the Allied invasion of Sicily was coordinated.