File:Antoine de Favray, St. John the Baptist with St. Paul.jpg

English: Antoine de Favray, St. John the Baptist with St. Paul (Wignacourt Museum, Rabat, Malta)

The two saints never met in their life. In this painting, they are pictured together, to stress the legitimacy of the rule of the Knights of Malta (the Order of St.John Hospitallier) via their custody of the most sacred place on the island, the Grotto of St.Paul in Rabat.

"Favray arrived in Malta in 1744 and even though he was not of noble blood, managed to attain his passaggio into the Order of St John as a Serving Brother in 1871. This also made him the official painter of the Order. It is for this reason that we find the representation of St John the Baptist and St Paul in the Wignacourt collection. Representations of these two saints together is not common in art, however these were the two most important saints of the Order. St John was the patron saint of the Order and St Paul was also central due to the history of the grotto, which was also under the Knight’s care. In this work it possible to observe Favray’s influence from Mattia Preti, especially where composition is concerned. However, the use of chromatic reds and greens are typical of Favray and indicated that it was probably painted at a later stage of Favray’s first Maltese Period" [1]