By Dorian Koçi - Director of the National Museum of Albania
Among the many paintings of European Romanticism that reflect exotic countries and populations, the paintings of Albanian lands and characters in Albanian costumes stand out. The geography of the countries reflected in these pictures is diverse from the banks of the Nile, the Arabian deserts, Turkey, Greece, the Principalities of Wallachia and Moldova, and up to the island of Malta.
Malta is one of the key geographical positions of the Mediterranean Sea. The Albanian presence there has been early since the Middle Ages when various Arbëresh units defended the island from Ottoman invasions. As Noel Malcolm testifies in his book "Agents of Empire: Knights, Corsairs, Jesuits, and Spies in the Sixteenth-Century Mediterranean World ", one of the representatives of the Bruti-Bruni family from Ulcinj managed to be proclaimed the Knight of the Order of St. John who ruled the island. From that time remains the flying expression Malta Yok - No Malta to the insane Ottoman Admiral Sultan Ibrahim who after an attack that suffered a ship of Muslim pilgrims going on pilgrimage to Mecca by the Knights of Malta, ordered the attack on the island. However, the commander-in-chief of the Ottoman fleet, fearing that he would not be able to conquer the island of Malta, placed a candle on his nautical chart and allowed the candle wax to drip over the sign indicating the small island, until the wax completely covered it. He then declared to his adjutants: "Malta yok - there is no Malta", and sailed to attack the Venetians on the island of Crete. The siege of Crete lasted around 24 years, where three years later Sultan Ibrahim died and the Venetians surrendered a few years later in 1669.
The following portrait dates back to 1808, when Albanian units served in the French armies in the Ionian Islands as well as in Great Britain or in the Kingdom of Naples. The author of this painting is not known but is likely to be British.
 |
| Portrait of an Albanian in Malta, 1800s |
Malta in that year was under British domination and a year later, in 1809, when Lord Byron and Hobhouse settled and stayed around the island for about two weeks, they testify that they heard for the first time about Albania and the charismatic leader of the Pascha of Ioannina, Ali Pasha Tepelena. In addition, various Albanian traders were constantly settling in Malta as it returned with its own bank after the British occupation, to a safe bank where it could deposit gold and precious stones. The British in 1821, when Ali Pasha Tepelena asked them for help to face the Ottoman Empire after denying him the opportunity to get involved in the conflict, proposed that he could settle with all his treasure and the two boys in Malta. Ali Pasha Tepelena did not accept this proposal because he felt he could be betrayed by Great Britain for greater geostrategic interests.
Among the weapons of the belt, there were pistols that are named with different names: calinë, kalemtushe, cubë, tekke, egzalina, etc. Calina was produced in Albania. In Northern Albania it was known as calina, celina and gjarpënushe. It was called gjarpënushe because of the snake's head at the end of the handle. In Central Albania, in Elbasan it was called verdhë, while in Tirana it was called latune vendi. Calina have been very popular because they were sold cheap. Serme pistols were made by Shkodra gunsmiths and jewelers. The handle was like a snake's head, clad in silver clasps. They were sculpted with stylized plant motifs, in relief. The barrel and the frame were made of iron. Their length reached about 59 cm, while the caliber 20 mm. Serme pistols were produced in the years 1780-1800. They have been used as belt weapons by the Suljots.
European Romanticism in literature and fine arts found the Albanian theme very exotic and the reflection of these motives indirectly influenced the reflection of the image of Albanians in Europe, who although did not have a very rich literature with texts through their material culture and ethnographic found a way to affirm their cultural and national identity.