Tag: Knights of Malta
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Saints Damian and Cosmas removing a bullet from a man’s chest
The renowned third century saints Cosmas and Damian were also doctors, often shown in paintings replacing a gangrenous leg with a healthy one. Here the two saints are performing an operation to remove a bullet from a patient’s chest. Saint Cosmas and Saint Damian dressing a chest wound. Oil painting by Antoine de Favray, 1748.…
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Bloody art
Francesca Portante d’AlessandroRome, Italy Blood has always been depicted in art, from cavemen’s hunts, to medieval altarpieces and battle scenes, to modern film and photography. Blood is able to simultaneously represent both life and death, the sacred and profane, violence and martyrdom, disease and healing, purity and impurity.1 Its meaning, however, can also vary depending…
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The Holy Infirmary of the Knights of St. John in Malta
Sally MetzlerChicago, Illinois, United States On a small island near Sicily, where today one hears the rich Maltese language—a mixed tongue of Italian, Arabic, English, and even French—a hospital was established in 1574 by the Knights of St. John. These aristocratic, militaristic, and religious men were also known as the Hospitalers, in part for their…