4. The chapel of the Langue of France
The chapel is dedicated to the conversion of the Great Apostle St Paul. In the assignment of the chapels to the langues it was given to the Langue of France which was third in order of seniority. This chapel first underwent decoration during the reign of the French Grand Master Alof de Wignacourt in 1614 as the frieze under the cornice states. During 1663 and 1668 the carvings of the walls took place a new altar designed by the renowned Maltese sculptor Melchiorre Gafa was installed in 1666. The altar piece depicts ‘The Conversion of St Paul’ and was commissioned to Mattia Preti in 1668. The paintings fitted into the lunette depict ‘The Shipwreck of St Paul in Malta’ and ‘The Beheading of St Paul in Rome.’ The chapel was richly carved and gilded with sculptural motifs and fleur-de-lys to proclaim the supremacy of the French crown. The four spandrels beneath the dome carry the coat-of-arms of the four Grand Masters of the French Langue namely, L’Isle Adam, de Wignacourt, de Naillac and de la Sengle.
In 1838 the chapel was redecorated by the artist Giuseppe Hyzler who was a follower of the Nazarenes, a movement that aspired to reform Christian art. The carvings of the walls were simplified to incorporate a plain crowned cross of St John representing the Order and the fleur-de-lys of the Langue of France. The altar was replaced by a simple elegant version in white marble and the surrounding walls remodelled. The chapel holds four magnificent funerary monuments of Vicomte de Beaujolais, brother to King Louis Philippe of France as well as the monuments to Grand Master Adrien de Wignacourt, Grand Master Fra Emmanuel de Rohan and that of Marquis de Wignacourt.