Thomas Roberts, Irish, 1748-1777
Title: The River Liffey in Lucan House Demesne
Date: c.1773-1775
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions:
60.6 x 99.8 cm
Credit Line: Purchased, 1983 (Shaw Fund)
Object Number: NGI.4464
ProvenanceCommissioned together with three paintings by Agmondisham Vesey of Lucan House; by desent to Captain R. St John Colthurst; Auction, 29 September 1925, Lucan House Sale, lot 115; purchased, Wright family, County Monaghan; purchased, Private Collection, 1983 (the set of four NGI. 4463-4466)
Exhibition HistoryAcquisitions 1982-83, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 1983
Label TextMost of Roberts’s views of the grounds of Lucan House are consistent with the standard idea of the demesne landscape. The prominence of the fashionably-dressed couple in the foreground of this scene, and the demonstrative way in which the male figure gestures across towards the river, suggest that these are Agmondisham Vesey and his wife Elizabeth, owners of the house. Vesey established several routes along the banks of the Liffey and through the woods to allow walkers to enjoy the parkland.