Sylvain de Bosredon
Fra Sylvain de Bosredon (15 September 1756 – 4 September 1798) was a French nobleman, a Hospitaller knight, and a landscape painter. He was killed by Maltese rebels during their 1798 uprising against the French occupation of Malta.
Born to François de Bosredon and Marie-Anne de Chauvigny de Blot, he followed family tradition by joining the Order of St John in Malta and became a knight of the Langue of Auvergne on 23 December 1778. He did administrative work for the Hospitallers, knew their laws, and acted as a procurator for Auvergne. He was also an artist who painted landscapes in a late Baroque style with touches of realism. In the 1780s he traveled with Fra Déodat Gratet de Dolomieu to Calabria, Lipari, and Sicily, painting many landscapes along the way.
In 1790 he rented a country house called Casa Blacas near Valletta. When the French took over Malta in June 1798, Dolomieu urged him to join Napoleon’s Egyptian campaign, but he stayed in Malta due to health reasons. On 2 September 1798, Maltese rebels began their insurrection, and two days later they arrived at Casa Blacas and accused him of collaboration. He had reportedly been passing information to his uncle Jean de Bosredon de Ransijat, a Hospitaller knight aligned with the French occupation government. He was executed by the rebels and buried in a shallow grave near the villa.
Some of de Bosredon’s artworks are preserved at the Mdina Cathedral Museum.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 02:53 (CET).