I trattati del Rinascimento a Malta. Modelli, migrazioni e architettura in età moderna

The relations existing between the grand masters, the popes and the Italian princes to the end of XVIth century find a direct confirmation in the architectural feature too. The greatest military engineers of the period are called into the more important Italian and foreign States to achieve the ambitions of popes, dukes, princes and emperors, simplifying the style migration of the late Renaissance architectural language in all Europe. Some important sixteenth-century architectural treatises, such as those from Vitruvius to Vignola and Palladio, are still preserved today in the National Library of Malta and possibly they are a source of inspiration for architects and military engineers who passed on the island. The journeys of these famous military engineers from a city to another involve a direct reflection on the architectural language choices, in a perpetual exchange with the local craftsmen, and as it happens in Valletta, the capital of the order.