View of the Formal Gardens at Blessington, Co Wicklow
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JPEG imageItem Type:
ImageDate:
1979Citation:
Anne Crookshank and The Knight of Glin, The Painters of Ireland c. 1660-1920, London, 1979, pp 27 and 31Download Item:
cgjc0974.jpg (JPEG image) 153.9KbDescription:
"This previously anonymous view can be identified with the help of Joseph Tudor's engraving dated 1745 of Blessington House, built by the Primate of Ireland, Archbishop Boyle (1609-1702), in the 1670s, with its vista closed by the parish church of 1683 and the map of the garden layout, vistas and village shown by John Rocque in his 'Actual Survey of the County of Dublin' published in 1760. Samuel Molyneaux (Trinity College MSS 1.13, p 86) noted that the magnificent house, furniture and 'a very handsome noble garden wilderness, green house, fish ponds, a large noble park and Paddocks is in short much beyond any seat in all respects that I have seen in this kingdom'. The building accounts for the house, which mentions laying out the garden, survives in the de Vesci papers at Abbeyleix. These accounts were published by Brian de Breffni, 'The Building of the Mansion at Blessington 1672', The GPA Irish Arts Review Year Book, Dublin, 1988, p 73-77. The accounts mention 'ye Pigeon House', a 'field gate', 'ye three paire of gates', etc. in 1673/4. Blessington was burnt in 1798 and was never rebuilt. ...This painting is the earliest known view of an Irish formal garden layout and must date from the first decade of the 18th century. By comparison with a painting by Thomas Bate of 'A View of Dublin from the Phoenix Park' [see image cgjc0975] of c.1699 (on loan to the Bath Preservation Trust) the attribution seems certain. We are indebted to Dr. Jane Fenlon for this suggestion." (from Christie's Dublin catalogue, Wed 20th May 1993, no 79)Attribution:
Bate, Thomas (Irish painter, active 1682-1699)Role:
artistDimensions/Extent:
101.6 cm x 62.2 cmMaterial (Support):
canvasWork:
paintingAttribution:
Bate, Thomas (Irish painter, active 1682-1699)Role:
artistType of material:
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Full text availablePeriod:
17th - 18th centuryLicences: