An exhibition on The Art of Fortress Building in Hospitaller Malta is being held from today at the National Library in Valletta, after its opening by Education Minister Louis Galea at 11am.

The exhibition is being organised by the National Library and Dr Stephen C. Spiteri with the assistance of the Fortress Explorer Society and the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage under the auspices of the International Institute of Baroque Studies of the University of Malta.

The exhibition focuses on the technical issues that military engineers had to contend with in the implementation of fortress schemes, following the construction of a complex work of fortification throughout its many stages and also examining the organisation of the workforce, the workings of the fortification atelier, and the roles played by military engineers, commissioners, surveyors, draughtsmen, master-masons and the various skilled craftsmen and labourers.

A crucial aspect of this work has been the effort to see how the knights themselves and their contemporaries recorded this extensive building activity. The end product is a synthesis of contemporary engineers’ and commissioners’ reports, original architectural plans and maps, building contracts and appalti, minutes of the meetings of the Order’s council and the Congregation of War and Fortification, testimonials, notarial deeds, and numerous supplichi by master masons, skilled craftsmen, and other individuals involved in the building industry.

The story is also told by means of specially designed panels, detailed scale models of fortifications, building tools and replica instruments. Many of the latter were reconstructed by students of the International Institute of Baroque studies as part of their course assignments. The exhibition is also accompanied by public lectures and site visits.

Further details are available by e-mail to [email protected] and at www.fortress-explorer.org/artexhibition.html