Progetti “romani” per Malta: un disegno per la facciata della Biblioteca della Valletta

The design for the Valletta Library, entrusted to the Polish architect Stefano Ittar in the 1880s, was the last major architectural commission of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem in Malta. The drawing for the facade preserved at the Museo Civico “Castello Ursino” in Catania shows an early stage of the design process that illuminates Stefano Ittar’s design approach and the expectations of the Order and the Grand Master. Such a document, in fact, seems to reinforce the hypothesis that the architect had had direct contact with the Roman environment, as well as confirming the link with that cultural orbit maintained by the Hospitaller patronage.