Title: The Enthronement of Saint Rumbold as Bishop of Dublin
Date: c.1490
Medium: Oil on oak panel
Dimensions:114.5 x 71.3 cm
Credit Line: Purchased, 1958
Object Number: NGI.1380
DescriptionThis late fifteenth-century anonymous master, whose style is reminiscent of that of Bruges artists, painted a group of seven works with scenes from the life of St Romold. Presumed to have been born in Scotland, Romold settled in Mechelen after a pilgrimage to the graves of the apostles. He is believed to have died a martyr’s death, which according to tradition occurred in ad 775.
This panel depicts Romold’s consecration as Bishop of Dublin. Although there is no proof that he ever occupied this position, Romold is generally referred to as such in hagiographic literature and is represented in the arts wearing episcopal dress. The Gallery has a second panel by the same artist, depicting St Romold taking leave of his parents and joining clerics embarking for Dublin (ngi.1381). Both works are characterised by their elongated, immobile figures with solemn expressions, grouped tightly together.
ProvenanceAccording to an improbable tradition, first related by Walpole in 1762, once presented by the Duke of Bedford, Regent of France (1395-1435) to Henry V of England (d.1422); from a series of twenty nine or more pictures originally in St. Rombaut's Cathedral at Malines, where it remained presumably until the church's pillage during the 'English Fury' of 1580; probably Thomas Howard, 2nd Earl of Arundel and Earl of Norfolk (1585-1646), according to an ms. note of c.1760 in the 'Hand-List of pictures at Devonshire House': "This picture is suppos'd to have formerly belonged to ye Arundel Collection and from thence came to Henry Duke of Norfolk, from whose Steward Mr. Fox it was bought by Mr. Sykes who afterwards sold it to ye Duke of Devonshire, 1722"; thence by descent in the family of the Dukes of Devonshire, Chatsworth; purchased, Christie's, London, Chatsworth sale, 27 June 1958, lot 3
Exhibition HistoryThe National Exhibition of Works of Art, Leeds, 1868
The Loan Exhibition of Paintings, The Corporation of London, The Guildhall, London, 1890
Exhibition of Paintings by Masters of the Netherlandish and Allied Schools of the XV and XVI Centuries, The Burlington Fine Arts Club, London, 1892
Exposition des Primitifs flamands et d'Art Ancien, Bruges, 1902
Exhibition of Works by Flemish and Modern Belgian Painters, The Guildhall, London, 1906
Exhibition of Flemish and Belgian Art 1300-1900, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1927
Centenary Exhibition, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, October - December 1964