Jump to content

The Marriage of Strongbow and Aoife

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Marriage of Strongbow and Aoife
The Marriage of Strongbow and Eva
See adjacent text.
ArtistDaniel Maclise
Year1854
Mediumoil on canvas
Dimensions315 cm × 513 cm (124 in × 202 in)
LocationNational Gallery of Ireland, Dublin

The Marriage of Strongbow and Aoife is a large oil-on-canvas painting by Daniel Maclise, painted in 1854 and measuring over 16 m2 (170 sq ft). It is owned by and on permanent display in the National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin.[1][2]

Description

[edit]

The painting depicts the 1170 marriage of the Norman knight Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke ("Strongbow") to the Irish princess Aoife Ní Diarmait in Christ Church Cathedral, Waterford. It is portrayed as a pivotal moment in the Norman conquest of Ireland and the death of Gaelic Ireland.

In the foreground are the bodies of dead Irish warriors. To the left is a broken-stringed Celtic harp. Richard stands on a broken high cross.[3]

History

[edit]

The painting was completed by Maclise in 1854. It was initially commissioned to stand in the chamber of the House of Lords in the Palace of Westminster.[4]

It was presented to the National Gallery in 1879 by Sir Richard Wallace, 1st Baronet.[5]

Bank of America Merrill Lynch paid for its restoration in 2010–17.[6][7]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ "The Marriage of Strongbow and Aoife". www.askaboutireland.ie. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016.
  2. ^ Hegarty, Neil (24 April 2012). Story of Ireland. Random House. ISBN 9781448140398. Archived from the original on 9 September 2017 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ jonathan5485 (15 April 2012). "The Marriage of Strongbow and Aoife by Daniel Maclise". Archived from the original on 22 December 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ Ulin, J. (13 November 2013). Medieval Invasions in Modern Irish Literature. Springer. ISBN 9781137297501. Archived from the original on 9 September 2017 – via Google Books.
  5. ^ "The day we lost our sovereignty - Independent.ie". 19 November 2010.
  6. ^ "The Marriage of Strongbow and Aoife « antiquesandartireland.com". Archived from the original on 5 July 2017.
  7. ^ "Conserving The Marriage of Strongbow and Aoife". National Gallery of Ireland. Archived from the original on 9 September 2017.