£26,250
Five Centuries: Furniture, Paintings & Works of Art | 673
Auction: Five Centuries: Furniture, Paintings & Works of Art
Signed and dated 1878, oil on board, and a companion a pair 'The Infantry Camp at Lazaretto, Malta'
Note: In 1878 an eight thousand-strong host of British and Indian troops arrived on coast of Malta. Their encampment was vast, the peaks of neat white tents appearing almost to span the horizon. The British government had deployed the troops to defend the Mediterranean ports against a perceived threat from Russia, and Malta proved a strategic stopover point before the troops advanced to occupy Cyprus.
The main force arrived in Malta in May 1878, and soon set about preparing the camp and making new roads. The Artillery Camp and Indian Cavalry Camp at San Antonio, Attard portrays the scale of the operation, from the distant aisles of cannons to the troops industriously preparing sandbags and drawing water. Soldiers also engaged with weapons-training and sports, and they enjoyed learning more of Maltese culture and religion. Gianni alludes to engagement with Maltese customs by representing locals sporting the distinctive faldetta in the foreground of The Infantry Camp at Lazaretto, Malta.
Girolamo Gianni completed these magnificent panoramas to commemorate the arrival of the garrisons in Malta. Scenes such as these demonstrated the army’s effective operation across exotic locations, and Gianni’s scenes skilfully convey the garrison’s preparedness and anticipation for its next manoeuvre.