Michael George Brennan, Irish, 1839-1871
Title: In the Church of San Costanzo, Capri
Date: 1866
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions:
74 x 60 cm
Signed: lower left: M.G. Brennan Capri '66
Credit Line: Purchased, 1873
Object Number: NGI.155
ProvenancePurchased, Christie's, London, 1873
Exhibition HistoryIerse schilders der 19e en 20e eeuw, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 1951
Label TextFollowing a lengthy stay in Rome, Brennan moved on medical advice to Capri, where he continued to paint and display an appetite for local subjects. By the second half of the nineteenth century, Capri had become a relatively popular retreat for artists. Here, an old church provides respite from the searing summer heat and an opportunity for prayer. The inclusion of ‘stages of life’ - children, a young mother and an elderly woman - was a leitmotif in Naturalist and Realist painting throughout Europe.