Pair Of Mounted Prints By Michele Bellanti – Porta Reale Fountain And Strada Vescovo, Valletta

The prints show Porta Reale Fountain, Valletta and Strada Vescovo, Valletta. Both are mounted H:19 xW:15cm. Michele Bellanti (1807 – 1883) is best remembered for his views of Malta. Born in Valletta In 1807, he proceeded to study art in Italy during the 1820s, and later specialised in lithography in France. On his return to Malta, Bellanti set up a lithography studio in Valletta, however, in keeping with the 19th century fascination with the Orient. Bellanti took off again in 1842, and spent more than a year travelling and painting watercolours of what he observed on his travels. When he returned to Malta he produced a collection of lithographs featuring views and costumes of Malta, as well as portraits of well known personalities. Bellanti was also a skilled painter and in the 1850s he accepted commissions to paint canvases for Maltese churches, and was also appointed drawing master at the Lyceum