St. Patrick's Purgatory

Artist Sir John Lavery (1856 - 1941)

Date1930

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions58.5 × 106.5 cm

ClassificationsPaintings

Credit LineCollection & image © Hugh Lane Gallery. Lady Lavery Memorial Bequest through Sir John Lavery, 1936.

Object number788

DescriptionWhile painting in the north of Ireland in 1928, Lavery conceived the idea of producing a picture of the ancient Irish Pilgrimage at Lough Derg. He wrote to Shane Leslie for some details of its history ('Life', pp. 202-204) and then to the Prior stating his intentions. Not being a pilgrim, he was allowed to keep his boots on and was lodged at the Priory for three or four nights in August 1929. Contrary to his expectations the pilgrims were not 'picturesque peasants', but 'everyday types one would see in the streets of Belfast or Dublin.' Equally, the weather was unpredictably good and far from finding pilgrims, 'plodding through mud and rain,' he was forced to confess to Thomas Bodkin, 'my picture, I fear, will look like a crowded summer resort, making Purgatory a thing to long for' (letter 551, Trinity College Library, Dublin). Rather incongruously, the painting was completed at the Hotel Beau Site, Cannes at the beginning of 1930. 'We are basking in sunshine,' Lavery wrote to Bodkin, 'while I paint from studies made at Lough Derg...'. He compensated for the incongurity by relating that St. Patrick, 'would appear to be somewhat nomadic. It is said he cleared out all the vipers on St. Marguerite, an island I can see from my studio window.' (letter 556, Trinity College Library, Dublin). In this picture, Lavery followed the same composition as that of the on-the-spot study (private collection), merely bringing forward the statue of St. Patrick to stand in front of the modern basilica.

(Catalogue Entry [107]: Sir John Lavery R.A. 1856 - 1941, An exhibition organized by the Ulster Museum, Belfast and The Fine Art Society, 11 August 1984 - 15 March 1985, various locations, p. 105)

On View

Not on view

Collections