How you can use this image
This image can be used for non-commercial research or private study purposes, and other UK exceptions to copyright permitted to users based in the United Kingdom under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Any other type of use will need to be cleared with the rights holder(s).
Review the copyright credit lines that are located underneath the image, as these indicate who manages the copyright (©) within the artwork, and the photographic rights within the image.
The collection that owns the artwork may have more information on their own website about permitted uses and image licensing options.
Review our guidance pages which explain how you can reuse images, how to credit an image and how to find images in the public domain or with a Creative Commons licence available.
Notes
Add or edit a note on this artwork that only you can see. You can find notes again by going to the ‘Notes’ section of your account.
This is the second of eight pictures commemorating the Siege of Malta in 1565. The canvases bear the cipher of Charles I on the reverse indicating that they were once in his collection. The set as a whole is a version of the larger series still in place in the Council Chamber of the Grand Master's Palace in Valletta. It records the siege and bombardment of St Elmo, on 27th May, with the Turkish camp at Marsa. Taken from the view point of the Turkish base camp at Marsa, it shows the formation of the Turkish batteries round St Elmo. Mustapha Pasha wished to capture this first in order to gain the harbour of Marsamucetto, and thus provide safe anchorage for his fleet. The painting demonstrates similar aerial perspective to 'The Siege of Malta: Arrival of the Turkish Fleet, 20 May 1565' (BHC0252) and forms a continuous narrative to it since the figures to the far left of the first painting are shown here in the right foreground.
Title
The Siege of Malta: Siege and Bombardment of Saint Elmo, 27 May 1565
Date
late 16th C
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
H 137.2 x W 208.3 cm
Accession number
BHC0253
Work type
Painting