Jean Parisot de Valette was the 49th Grand Master of the Order of St John and founder of the city of Valletta, the capital of Malta. He is best known for organising the defence of Malta during the Great Siege of Malta in 1565. Outnumbered by the large Ottoman force, the Order resisted the siege for over three months until the Turkish forces retreated. The victory brought Valette a great deal of prestige across Europe and he received many gifts to commend his brave leadership. This bust, the finest known portrait of this historical figure, is an example of such a gift and has been recently attributed to the important Renaissance sculptor Giovanni Bandini. Through Jeremy Warren’s research this talk will examine this exquisite artwork and the enigmatic and often difficult man it portrays.

Dr Jeremy Warren is Librarian to the Priory of England and the Islands of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem, Honorary Curator of Sculpture for the Ashmolean Museum and Sculpture Research Curator for the National Trust. Dr Warren was formerly Collections and Academic Director at the Wallace Collection. He is a specialist in sculpture and works of art and has published extensively on the subject, including the award-winning catalogue of the collections of the Ashmolean Museum.

This event will take place over Zoom, and live subtitles will be provided by Stagetext.

All proceeds from this talk, and others in the Treasures from the Museum of the Order of St John series, will be put towards the conservation of the books and bound manuscripts in the Museum’s internationally significant library collection.