Tapestries
The Flemish tapestries at St John’s Co-Cathedral are the largest complete series in the world. The set, consisting of twenty nine pieces, was ordered from the Brussels atelier of Judecos de Vos for the sum of 40,000 scudi and was based on cartoons of the same subjects by Peter Paul Rubens.
Tradition required that on his appointment, the new Grand Master would present the church with a gift or ‘gioia’. This collection of tapestries was the gift of the Aragonese Grand Master Ramon Perellos y Roccaful elected in 1697.
By 1701 the set had reached Malta. The entire set of tapestries consists of fourteen large scenes depicting the life of Christ and allegories and fourteen panels representing the Virgin Mary, Christ the Saviour and the Apostles.
The set also includes a tapestry portraying the donor, Grand Master Ramon Perellos y Roccaful. The tapestries were originally suspended from the main cornice along the nave of the church during important occasions such as the feast of St John the Baptist.
