This is the fifth of eight pictures commemorating the Siege of Malta in 1565. The back of the canvases bear the cipher of Charles I indicating that they were once in his collection. The set as a whole is a version of the larger series still in place in the Council Chamber of the Grand Master's Palace in Valletta. It portrays the siege of Birgu and the battery of the Post of Castille on 6 July 1565. The Turkish batteries assault the posts of the Castilian and German Knights in Birgu. In this picture, the viewpoint has shifted over to the right, looking straight over Mount Salvadore to Fort St Elmo. The battery on Mount Salvadore is mounted and firing to the left against Birgu and St Angelo, which is also menaced by five row-barges rounding the point from three large ships lying to the right of Mount Salvadore. There is a mass of white turbaned troops in the middle distance on the right and some on the left. In the middle two cannon on Mount Kalkara fire on Birgu. Across the foreground is a colourful gathering of senior Turkish soldiery. On the extreme right and left are officers of the camp, carrying long lances, and in the middle, janissaries of the Guard of the Grand Turk. In the foreground and to the right are the two Pashas, mounted and facing to the left, with their backs to the viewer. See also BHC0252-0259.