Photo: Jenny Callanan Photography.
A Insightful lecture at Highlanes Gallery has shed new light on one of Drogheda’s enduring artistic mysteries. Community Historian Brendan Matthews presented the findings of his extensive research into who commissioned Gabrielle Ricciardelli’s iconic paintings of Drogheda and why they were created, captivating a full house as part of the gallery’s 20th anniversary summer programme.
The talk explored the origins of the two celebrated paintings and the influential families connected to their commission, offering fresh insight into an important part of the town’s cultural heritage.
The cherished municipal art gallery continues its year of celebrations marking its 20 th year with an all-consuming lecture by Community Historian, Brendan Matthews, who shared his research journey into who actually asked the Neapolitan painter Gabrielle Ricciardelli to paint the two magnificent paintings of Drogheda, from two perspectives.
There was a full house on Friday last, with local business people, citizens, and curious others intrigued to find out what Brendan had discovered.
For generations, these paintings have occupied a quiet yet significant place within the town’s cultural inheritance familiar to many, but seldom examined in depth. Yet there is one fundamental question that has remained largely unexplored:
Who commissioned them,and why? Community Historian Brendan Matthews delved into the question, and shared his extensive research of the paintings origins, and identified and reconstructed the dense web of kinship that linked several of the most powerful families of the period.
The lecture was presented within the current exhibition Ceiliúradh: Treasures of the Boyne Valley curated by 8 community curators, many of whom were in attendance including Bairbre English, John English, Eithne Hamill, Martin Kieran, Kay McQuaile, Oisín Ó Maoláin, Máire Uí Mhaoláin.
Highlanes summer programme continues with talks, lectures, music and song.
