Gabrielle Ricciardelli (fl. 1745-1777)

THE PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN

Details

Gabrielle Ricciardelli (fl. 1745-1777)

A prospect of Stillorgan Park and Obelisk, with Dublin and Harbour beyond

14¼ x 34½in. (36.2 x 82.5cm.)

Provenance

The appearance of the present picture is important in the understanding of Ricciardelli's stay in Ireland. A Neapolitan by birth, Gabrielle Ricciardelli arrived in Dublin in 1753 and established a lucrative trade as a portrait and landscape painter, though it is mainly for the latter that he is remembered, in which the influence of Jan Frans van Bloemen, called Il Orizzonte, under whom he trained is obvious. In 1754 Lord Allen let Stillorgan House and park, on the outskirts of Dublin, to the Rt. Hon. Philip Tisdall. It is at about this time that a set of views of the house and obelisk were commissioned from Ricciardelli, though whether by Allen or Tisdall is unclear. A set of four views, two of Stillorgan and two of Dublin Bay, by Ricciardelli have passed to Lord Allen's descendants and are now in the Proby Collection: Elton Hall, and a further two smaller variants of the Stillorgan pair are in the collections of the descendants of Tisdall. Four of these pictures were exhibited together in 1963 in Irish Houses and Landscapes (Ulster Museum, Belfast; and Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, Dublin nos. 55-58) where they were wrongly attributed to Dominic Serres, who did not arrive in Ireland earlier than 1760. In March 1759 Ricciardelli, presumably having completed his oil paintings, was advertising engravings of views of Dublin from the sea and Phoenix Park, though these are no longer known.

The obelisk at Stillorgan was designed by Sir Edward Lovett Pearce for the second Lord Allen in 1727 and still survives. Pearce was made Surveyor General three years later and was responsible for the main Portico and Rotunda of the Irish House of Commons, as well as the Bishop's Palace at Cashel and contributions to Castletown. Pearce was the most progressive follower of Lord Burlington working in Ireland at the time, though the influence of Bernini's Fountain in the Piazza Navona, Rome is perhaps more evident here.

Lot Essay

The obelisk at Stillorgan was designed by Sir Edward Lovett Pearce for the second Lord Allen in 1727 and still survives. Pearce was made Surveyor General three years later and was responsible for the main Portico and Rotunda of the Irish House of Commons, as well as the Bishop's Palace at Cashel and contributions to Castletown. Pearce was the most progressive follower of Lord Burlington working in Ireland at the time, though the influence of Bernini's Fountain in the Piazza Navona, Rome is perhaps more evident here.

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