Maritime Paintings

The Maritime Paintings collection showcases a variety of themes, including ships, harbours, and dramatic seascapes. Some paintings illustrate singular events in Malta’s maritime history, such as battles or ceremonies. Their purpose is often celebratory, but the collection also boasts paintings depicting less glamorous events. Leslie Cole’s wartime art comes to mind, depicting a harbour in ruins. Others are allegories (with a religious or symbolical meaning) or representations of daily life in a particular period of the island’s rich past. The collection also contains one of the oldest ex-votos on the island: a wooden panel commissioned by a grateful Navarrese knight for his surviving of one of the largest naval battles in history.