Vittoriosa

The old town of Vittoriosa was once an important place. Originally known as Il-Birgu, it became the headquarters of the Knights Hospitaller when they established themselves on Malta, and following the successful repelling of an Ottoman siege in 1565 it gained the name Città Vittoriosa (Victorious City). Today it is much quieter, and there are many picturesque narrow lanes away from the main buildings. Many of these have fine examples of the characteristic Maltese bay windows known locally as gallariji.

This picture was originally just a pen drawing, with which I was very pleased. However, my plan had always been to add colour, mainly because the bay windows were all very brightly painted. My decision to use pencil crayons to add the colour was probably a mistake, as the colours I achieved are nowhere near as vibrant as the original scene. On the positive side it all looks very peaceful, which indeed it was. It was hot too, but that is not so obvious in the picture!