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Lot Essay
The date of Schellinks’s stay in Malta can be stated with confidence, thanks to his entries in his diary. He and his charge, Jacob Thierry the Younger (1648-1709), were on the island from 5 September to 31 October 1664 and Schellinks spent his time productively, making drawings for the Atlas van der Hem (for his trip to Italy, see lot 65). Sixteen of his views of the island were included in the final Atlas, making up the majority of Volume XII, which was entirely devoted to Malta (see P. van der Krogt and E. de Groot, eds., The Atlas Blaeu-van der Hem of the Austrian National Library, ‘t Goy-Houten, 1999, II, nos. 12:06-12:21). Seven of the drawings show views of Valletta's harbour and bastions from different directions, and the present drawing is a preparatory study, with minor differences in staffage, for the Profile of Valletta from Senglea (van der Krogt and de Groot, op. cit., no. 12:13). Although the view is the same in both drawings, the Atlas drawing is on thirteen joined sheets and has been extended at top and bottom to fit the dimensions of the book and also to prove space for the foreground staffage and the scroll at upper centre.
Another of Schellinks's studies of Valletta is in the Albertina, Vienna (Drawn to Warmth, exhib. cat., Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, 2001, p. 177, fig. H), and an extensive panorama of Valletta, similar in spirit to the present drawing, was sold at Christie’s, London, 12 April 1983, lot 156. Showing the city from a different angle, and also numbered (with a key attached), it was slightly larger than the present work and displayed as three separate sheets, each of which had been made of several smaller joined pieces of paper. It has been debated whether the ‘large and curious view of Malta’ described in John McGouan’s sale (T. Philipe, London, 26 January 1804, lot 638) is the present drawing or the panorama sold in 1983, but since the McGouan drawing is explicitly described as ‘taken from La Valetta [sic]’, this seems much more likely to be the 1983 drawing, which looks out from the city across the water, rather than the present drawing, where the artist is on the other side of the water looking back at Valletta.
The final version of this view in the Atlas is also inscribed with numbers identifying the landmarks, with an explanatory key. The sequence of numbers differs slightly between the two drawings. The following key gives Schellinks’s descriptions of the places marked in the present drawing, with the current names of churches and landmarks added where possible. The first numbers given are those which appear on the present sheet. The numbers following in square brackets are those given for the same places in the original key to the Atlas version:
1. [1.] ‘Castel St Angelo op borgo Vittorioso’ (Fort Saint Angelo)
2. [2.] ‘posta di Castilia’ (Auberge de Castille)
3. [3.] ‘baniaert of gevangen huijs der slaven’ (‘a house for captured slaves’)
4. [4.] ‘St domenico’ (Parish Church of Our Lady of Fair Havens and Saint Dominic)
5. [5.] ‘Sta Ursula Vrouwe Klooster ordre St Jan’ (Church and Convent of Saint Ursula of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem)
6. [not marked in the Atlas version: The harbour wall]
7. [6.] ‘Galderij of Schuijlplaets voor ‘t volck die geen practica hebben’ (‘shelter or hospice for the homeless or disabled’)
8. [7.] ‘fonteijn en waterplaets voor de linnewasters’ (‘fountain and troughs for washing laundry’)
9. [8.] ‘Een water conduit die geopent wert, als eenige Schepen die geen practica hebben, water haelen’ (‘conduit to provide water for ships not anchored at the harbour’)
10. [9.] ‘de Jesuite kerck’ (Church of the Jesuits)
11. [11.] ‘Paleijs van [de] Groot Meester’ (The Grand Master’s Palace)
12. [12.] ‘Sta Lucia’ (Church of Saint Lucy)
13. [13.] ‘Sto Paolo’ (Church of Saint Paul’s Shipwreck)
14. [possibly 10.] ‘Magasijns vande wijnen’ (‘storehouses for wine’)
15. [possibly 20.] ‘il giardino del gran maestro’ (‘the Grand Master’s garden’)
16. [possibly 19.] ‘Madonna de gli fors’ (Church of Our Lady of Victory)
17. [16.] ‘het holhuijs boven de poort de monte’ (‘the toll house at the top of the hill’)
18. [17.] ‘de poort om in den hof vanden Groot meester te gaen’ (‘the gate by which one enters the Grand Master’s garden’)
19. [18.] ‘de hooftkerk St Jan’ (Saint John’s Co-Cathedral)
20. [possibly 15.] ‘Sta Maria di Jesus’ (Ta' Giezu Church)
21. [20.] ‘il giardino del gran maestro’ (‘the Grand Master’s garden’)
22. [21.] ‘la mine. wert gebruijckt om door te passeren’ (‘the tunnel used to pass underneath the walls’)
23. [22.] ‘St Pietro, et Paolo: poste d’Italia’ (Bastion of Saint Peter and St Paul; Auberge d’ Italie [?])
24. [23.] ‘Twe Arsenaels’ (‘two arsenals’)
25. [25.] ‘Magasijnen’ (‘storehouses’)
26. [24.] ‘Bolwerck St Jacob’ (Saint James’s Counterguard)
27. [26.] ‘il posto de france’ (Auberge de France)
Another of Schellinks's studies of Valletta is in the Albertina, Vienna (Drawn to Warmth, exhib. cat., Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, 2001, p. 177, fig. H), and an extensive panorama of Valletta, similar in spirit to the present drawing, was sold at Christie’s, London, 12 April 1983, lot 156. Showing the city from a different angle, and also numbered (with a key attached), it was slightly larger than the present work and displayed as three separate sheets, each of which had been made of several smaller joined pieces of paper. It has been debated whether the ‘large and curious view of Malta’ described in John McGouan’s sale (T. Philipe, London, 26 January 1804, lot 638) is the present drawing or the panorama sold in 1983, but since the McGouan drawing is explicitly described as ‘taken from La Valetta [sic]’, this seems much more likely to be the 1983 drawing, which looks out from the city across the water, rather than the present drawing, where the artist is on the other side of the water looking back at Valletta.
The final version of this view in the Atlas is also inscribed with numbers identifying the landmarks, with an explanatory key. The sequence of numbers differs slightly between the two drawings. The following key gives Schellinks’s descriptions of the places marked in the present drawing, with the current names of churches and landmarks added where possible. The first numbers given are those which appear on the present sheet. The numbers following in square brackets are those given for the same places in the original key to the Atlas version:
1. [1.] ‘Castel St Angelo op borgo Vittorioso’ (Fort Saint Angelo)
2. [2.] ‘posta di Castilia’ (Auberge de Castille)
3. [3.] ‘baniaert of gevangen huijs der slaven’ (‘a house for captured slaves’)
4. [4.] ‘St domenico’ (Parish Church of Our Lady of Fair Havens and Saint Dominic)
5. [5.] ‘Sta Ursula Vrouwe Klooster ordre St Jan’ (Church and Convent of Saint Ursula of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem)
6. [not marked in the Atlas version: The harbour wall]
7. [6.] ‘Galderij of Schuijlplaets voor ‘t volck die geen practica hebben’ (‘shelter or hospice for the homeless or disabled’)
8. [7.] ‘fonteijn en waterplaets voor de linnewasters’ (‘fountain and troughs for washing laundry’)
9. [8.] ‘Een water conduit die geopent wert, als eenige Schepen die geen practica hebben, water haelen’ (‘conduit to provide water for ships not anchored at the harbour’)
10. [9.] ‘de Jesuite kerck’ (Church of the Jesuits)
11. [11.] ‘Paleijs van [de] Groot Meester’ (The Grand Master’s Palace)
12. [12.] ‘Sta Lucia’ (Church of Saint Lucy)
13. [13.] ‘Sto Paolo’ (Church of Saint Paul’s Shipwreck)
14. [possibly 10.] ‘Magasijns vande wijnen’ (‘storehouses for wine’)
15. [possibly 20.] ‘il giardino del gran maestro’ (‘the Grand Master’s garden’)
16. [possibly 19.] ‘Madonna de gli fors’ (Church of Our Lady of Victory)
17. [16.] ‘het holhuijs boven de poort de monte’ (‘the toll house at the top of the hill’)
18. [17.] ‘de poort om in den hof vanden Groot meester te gaen’ (‘the gate by which one enters the Grand Master’s garden’)
19. [18.] ‘de hooftkerk St Jan’ (Saint John’s Co-Cathedral)
20. [possibly 15.] ‘Sta Maria di Jesus’ (Ta' Giezu Church)
21. [20.] ‘il giardino del gran maestro’ (‘the Grand Master’s garden’)
22. [21.] ‘la mine. wert gebruijckt om door te passeren’ (‘the tunnel used to pass underneath the walls’)
23. [22.] ‘St Pietro, et Paolo: poste d’Italia’ (Bastion of Saint Peter and St Paul; Auberge d’ Italie [?])
24. [23.] ‘Twe Arsenaels’ (‘two arsenals’)
25. [25.] ‘Magasijnen’ (‘storehouses’)
26. [24.] ‘Bolwerck St Jacob’ (Saint James’s Counterguard)
27. [26.] ‘il posto de france’ (Auberge de France)