Clúdach: Cover

We continue our presentation of nineteenth-century paintings from the collections of the Crawford Gallery in Cork—all of which feature animals—with a work from one of Ireland's best-known artists, Daniel Maclise (1806–1870).

"The Falconer" is an 1853 oil on canvas painting that measures 61 cm x 417 cm. The Crawford's website notes that the subject of the painting is likely inspired by a fourteenth-century Florentine folk tale, "Frederigo's Falcon," adding that "Maclise has paid a good deal of attention to the implied drama between the two figures and to the Renaissance period costume. The three-quarter length pose in an enclosed space but with an outdoor setting is reminiscent of Renaissance portraiture. The narrative and passion implicit in the scene is, however, typically Victorian."

Born in Cork, and an early student at the Cork School of Art (the Crawford held a major exhibition of his work in 2008), Maclise is nonetheless more closely associated with Victorian England. He spent most of his adult career in London, where he was close to such leading figures as Disraeli and William Thackeray, and his commissions included painted murals at Westminster Palace and for the House of Lords. Historical subjects provide the subject matter of most of his monumental paintings; by far the most well-known of his Irish works is the enormous painting "The Marriage of Strongbow and Aoife" (1854), which hangs in the National Gallery of Ireland.

We encourage all who are visiting Cork to include the Crawford Art Gallery on their itinerary. An enticing introduction to the collections and collateral programming can be found on its extensive website at http://www.crawfordartgallery.ie/index.html. Each year, more than 200,000 persons, from Ireland and abroad, visit the gallery, which is located on Emmet Place in the heart of Cork City. Admission is free.

We thank the Crawford Art Gallery, Cork, for kind permission to reproduce this work.