St John’s Co-Cathedral in Valletta holds two paintings by Caravaggio. One of them is the largest canvas he ever painted, and it is the only picture he signed. It still hangs in the room it was painted for, which is rare for a work of that age.
Why Caravaggio was in Malta
He arrived in 1607, having left Rome after killing a man in a fight. Malta suited both sides.
He needed protection and a way back to respectability. The Order of St John wanted a painter of his standing.
In July 1608 he was made a knight. Four months later he was in a cell at Fort St Angelo after another fight. He escaped, and the Order expelled him while he was gone.
The Beheading of St John the Baptist
It was painted for the Oratory and it is still there. It is very large and very dark, with most of the canvas empty and the light falling on a small part of it.
His signature is in the blood running from the saint’s neck. It is the only signature on any of his paintings. Nobody knows for certain why he signed that one.
St Jerome Writing
The second is smaller and hangs nearby. It was stolen from the cathedral in 1984 and recovered a few years later. It is an ordinary looking picture of an old man at a desk, and it repays standing in front of for a while.
Seeing them
The Oratory is part of the cathedral visit, so one ticket covers both. Photography is not allowed in the Oratory and the room is kept dark on purpose, because light damages paint. Give your eyes a minute when you walk in.
The cathedral itself is worth the time regardless. It is plain outside and almost entirely covered in gold and carved stone inside. Prices for it and every other site are on one page.
