What does the sea have in common with a bed that is not the seabed? A question that immediately springs to mind as your eyes rest on the hollow frame of a bed soon on display at the Malta Maritime Museum as part of the exhibition An Island at the Crossroads. The short answer prompting a deluge of other questions is that the 18th century bed was the one shared by Rear Admiral Horatio Nelson and Lady Emma Hamilton at the height of their love affair in Naples, and provides an excellent highlight of the turbulent two-year period (1798 -1800) during which Malta changed hands three times, from the Order of St John, to the French, to the British.

William Anderson (1757-1837) The Marina, Malta. MUZA Collection

By the summer of 1798, Britain and France were locked in an epic struggle which would persist for two decades and would eventually decide the fate of Europe. Ignited by the revolutionary upheavals that rocked France during the 1790s, the conflict had been joined by the Continent’s major powers, including Austria, Prussia and the Netherlands. Despite having a huge military advantage, the Allies were divided and had differing objectives.

With war in Europe in full swing in 1797, General Napoleon Bonaparte continued his seemingly irresistible advance through northern Italy. Venice was captured without a shot being fired in May of that year, Genoa ceased to exist, having been rebranded the Ligurian Republic, whilst the Papal States had come to an agreement with the French.

During that period, the Royal Navy, under Horatio Nelson’s command, crushed General Bonaparte’s ambition to undermine the British Empire in a bloody naval action in Aboukir Bay, Egypt. When news reached Malta, it led to a turbulent period of unrest. The victory at the Battle of the Nile, together with his passionate yet scandalous extra-marital affair with Lady Hamilton in Naples, made Nelson a very popular figure. This combination of events caused Britannia’s ‘God of War’ to postpone his intended trip to Malta. And the bed in the midst of a Georgian soap opera did not end well: upon his death, the admiral left two women’s lives devastated as certainly as he devastated the French fleet – his wife died wealthy but heartbroken, his mistress fell into depression and disgrace.

The artefacts that make up the exhibition are tied to 20 themes, each telling a story related to the sea.

An Island at the Crossroads – also showcasing a bust of Horatio Nelson and a letter to Lady Hamilton signed by her lover with his newfound title ‘Nelson Bronte’ on February 13, 1800, eve of St Valentine’s Day – is a multisensory, one-of-a-kind, temporary exhibition which has been set up at the Maritime Museum in Birgu to mark the completion of the initial phase of the museum’s major overhaul. This phase, partly financed through the EEA Norway Grants 2014-2021 for a total of nearly €2 million, has seen the restoration, demolition, reconstruction and rehabilitation of the dilapidated areas of the building, including the silos, warehouses, main staircase and roofs.

Half of the Norway grant went into the setting up of a Digitisation Unit within Heritage Malta, and the purchase of a substantial state of the art digitisation hardware setup necessary for the digitisation of the Maltese Islands’ maritime heritage. During the past few years, thousands of artefacts from the Maritime Museum collection have been digitised. A Collection Management System was also established, providing for the cataloguing of these collections with the aid of specialised software.

West Dock No.5 in 1905.

The second phase of the project – comprising the modernisation and design of the remaining spaces within the museum, including the permanent display and interpretation – is now in full swing. While it is being implemented and parts of the museum remain closed, visitors may enjoy the exhibition, which is centred around the concept of Malta’s ideal position in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea.

The artefacts that make up the exhibition are tied to 20 themes, each telling a story related to the sea. To name but a few, among the exhibits one finds an ex-voto painting depicting the Battle of Lepanto which dates back to the 16th century and is probably the oldest one known on the island; the fascinating diary of Vincenzo Borg (Brared), one of the main insurgent leaders during the French blockade in Malta; the imposing figurehead of Gregorio Mirabitur; the typical toolbox of a mid-20th century Maltese Dockyard worker; and the beautiful leather-bound manuscript penned by the Bunbury sisters in 1872 to document their stop in Malta as part of the Grand Tour.

An Island at the Crossroads

Several activities will be taking place each month in conjunction with An Island at the Crossroads. They include talks by ex-Dockyard workers, conferences, Taste History events, several activities for school children, and an opportunity to spend a night at the museum.

An Island at the Crossroads opens to the public on Friday, February 9. Admission costs €8 for adults, €6 for seniors, students and concessions, and €4 for children. Holders of Heritage Malta’s senior and student passports are admitted free of charge. More information about the exhibition may be accessed here. Information about the exhibition’s opening hours is available here.