Valletta and the harbour towns are lined with majestic lines of fortifications – imposing masses of wall that appear to rise directly from the depths of sea, rising towards the skies as they engirdle the urban fabric of the city of the Order. In this collage, Attard juxtaposes diverse images of the bastion walls of Valletta, he fragments them and re-composes them in a distinctive linear sequence. The recomposed image highlights the sense of gravitas, the bold massing and sharp angularity of the bastion walls. The artist photographer has extracted fragments of the bastion walls as the quintessential DNA of the historic capital city, unencumbered from all urban additives and accretions. Attard through his artistic assemblage aims to capture not only the physicality of the walls but also to go beyond by revealing the zeitgeist of these man-made structures. The knights of the Order of St John were determined to ensure that the walls of the city of Valletta would be impregnable able to withstand the most severe of enemy onslaughts. From its inception the main concern was the enceinte of fortifications around the Mount Sciberras peninsula as is clearly evident in Laparelli’s plans for the city. The Order always strove to perfect the state of the defences of the city, by securing the services of the most eminent military engineers from the continent.