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Study for 'The Act of Union between Great Britain and Ireland'

dc.contributor.authorBarry, James (Irish painter, printmaker, and lithographer, 1741-1806, active in England)
dc.coverage.spatialAshmolean Museum
dc.date.accessioned2008-02-02T11:09:12Z
dc.date.available2008-02-02T11:09:12Z
dc.date.createdc. 1801
dc.date.issued1983
dc.identifier.citationPressly, William L., 'James Barry: Artist as Hero', London: The Tate Gallery, 1983, p 144-5, no 88en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2262/13612
dc.description'This drawing is Barry's first conception, at least that has survived, of a proposed painting celebrating the Act of Union between Great Britain and Ireland. This act, which was passed on 1 January 1801, provided for the legislative union of the two islands. William Pitt the Younger, the head of Britain's government, had earlier pressed for Irish reforms, but they were too slow in coming and discontent erupted in the Irish Rebellion of 1798. In order to remedy a deteriorating situation, Pitt first engineered the dissolution of the dispotic Irish parliament, and he then planned, after securing the Act of Union, to introduce Catholic emancipation, thereby allowing Ireland's oppressed majority to be represented in parliament for the first time. King George III, however, opposed emancipation, and Pitt resigned rather than force the issue. Despite the unfortunate conclusion of Pitt's scheme, Barry stubbornly held to hope that the Union would eventually lead to meaningful reforms in a country that had already suffered so much from a long legacy of misrule. In this early conception of his subject, Great Britain and Ireland meet as equals, the scale held by the angel being evenly balanced. The Bible held by the sister countries testifies to their mutual Christian faith, whether Anglican, Protestant or Catholic. On the front of the altar is a scene illustrating one of Aesop's fables, in which the rods, easily broken singly but not together, demonstrate that in union there is strength. In the right background, images of destruction, envy, deceit, war and folly are dispersed by divine thunderbolts. Lower down on the right, a statesman (possibly William Pitt) lectures his colleagues on the benefits of this happy merger.' (Pressly, 144-5)en
dc.format.extent731589 bytes
dc.format.mediumcolored inken
dc.format.mediumink washesen
dc.format.mediumblack chalken
dc.format.mimetypeimage/jpeg
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherThe Tate Galleryen
dc.subjectAct of Unionen
dc.subjectDestruction personified in arten
dc.subjectDeceit personified in arten
dc.subject.lcshArt, Irishen
dc.subject.lcshDrawing, Irishen
dc.subject.lcshPolitics in arten
dc.subject.lcshGreat Britain In art.en
dc.subject.lcshIreland In art.en
dc.subject.lcshAllegoriesen
dc.subject.lcshAngels in arten
dc.subject.lcshIreland Relations Great Britain.en
dc.subject.lcshAesop's fables Illustrations.en
dc.subject.lcshBible In arten
dc.subject.lcshLightningen
dc.subject.lcshSymbolism in arten
dc.subject.lcshEnvy Political aspects.en
dc.subject.lcshWar in arten
dc.subject.lcshFolly in arten
dc.subject.lcshLectures and lecturingen
dc.subject.lcshPitt, William, 1749-1823en
dc.titleStudy for 'The Act of Union between Great Britain and Ireland'en
dc.typeImageen
dc.contributor.roleartisten
dc.coverage.cultureIrishen
dc.format.extentdimensions70.9 cm x 52.4 cm
dc.format.supportpaper (fiber product)en
dc.subject.period19th century
dc.type.workdrawingen


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