Throughout the last two years the Embassy of Malta in Moscow has been collaborating with the Mission of the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta in the realization of an exhibition on the Order in Moscow. These preparations came to a head on 5 July 2012 with the opening of the exhibition ‘Treasures of the Order of Malta - Nine Centuries in the Service of Faith and Charity’ at the Moscow Kremlin Museums. The artifacts lent by Heritage Malta have certainly enriched the exhibition and contributed in no small way to depict the art heritage of the Order’s stay in Malta for 268 years. Some of the art works, such as the portrait of Grandmaster Pinto de Fonseca by Antoine Favray, left the island for the first time to join works of art loaned by other Museums including the Louvre, Palazzo Pitti, and the Russian Museums in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
The contribution by the Government of Malta, through the cooperation of Heritage Malta, was acknowledged in the opening speeches by H.M.E.H. Fra’ Matthew Festing, Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta and by H.E. Mr Vladimir Medinsky, Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation. The exhibition will run until September and is expected to be visited by thousands of visitors who tour the Kremlin in the summer months – an opportunity that will certainly cultivate a greater knowledge of the Order and of its home from 1530 to 1798.
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