Gabriel Beranger (1725–1817) was a Dutch artist, known for his works showing Irish antiquities.

Life

Beranger was born in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

on 9 March 1725, as the son of Henry Beranger and Marie le Duc/Anne Marie Leduc. His parents, who had married in Rotterdam in 1713, were both of

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

origin. In 1760, Beranger went to

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

to join family members there. Beranger opened a print shop and artist's warehouse at 5

South Great George's Street South Great George's Street () is a street in south-central Dublin, Ireland. History Early history and naming The area is associated with Early Scandinavian Dublin. Four burials excavated near South Great George's Street were also associa ...

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, and followed the profession of an artist.

Charles Vallancey General Charles Vallancey FRS (6 April 1731 – 8 August 1812) was a British military surveyor sent to Ireland. He remained there and became an authority on Irish antiquities. Some of his theories would be rejected today, but his drawings, f ...

and

William Conyngham William Burton Conyngham (1733 – 31 May 1796) was an Anglo-Irish politician. Life He was born William Burton, the second son of Francis Burton (1696–1744), Francis Burton and Mary Conyngham, sister of Henry Conyngham, 1st Earl Conyngham. I ...

became his patrons and found him a government situation in the Dublin exchequer office. In later life Beranger was financially independent, after a bequest from his brother-in-law. He died at the age of 91 or 92, and was interred in the French burial-ground in Dublin. In 2023, a block of apartments in the

Clonskeagh Clonskeagh or Clonskea (; , meaning "meadow of the Crataegus monogyna, Whitethorn"), is a small southern suburb of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The district straddles the River Dodder. Location and access The district is adjacent to ...

area of South County Dublin near Roebuck Castle was named Beranger House in honour of the artist.

Works

Beranger drew the antiquities of Dublin and its neighbourhood, and then, with the French artist Angelo Bigari, sketching tours through

Leinster Leinster ( ; or ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the southeast of Ireland. The modern province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige, which existed during Gaelic Ireland. Following the 12th-century ...

Connaught Connacht or Connaught ( ; or ), is the smallest of the four provinces of Ireland, situated in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms ( Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine ...

, and

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

. Many of his drawings are accompanied by descriptions of the places and people he visited. He transferred his drawings and descriptions to manuscript volumes intended for publication, most of which were kept in Dublin, in the

Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the natural sciences, arts, literature, and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned society and one of its le ...

and elsewhere. The drawings give the appearance of ancient buildings and stone monuments that later deteriorated or were destroyed. George Petrie made use of these drawings to illustrate his book on the

round tower A fortified tower (also defensive tower or castle tower or, in context, just tower) is one of the defensive structures used in fortifications, such as castles, along with defensive walls such as curtain wall (fortification), curtain walls. Castle ...

s of Ireland.

External links

* William Robert Wilde,
Memoir of Gabriel Beranger: And His Labours in the Cause of Irish Art and Antiquities, from 1760 to 1780
' (1880)
Beranger Watercolours in University College Dublin Library. A UCD Digital Library Collection

Notes

Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Beranger, Gabriel 1725 births 1817 deaths 18th-century Dutch painters 18th-century Dutch male artists Dutch male painters 18th-century Irish painters 18th-century Irish male artists Irish male painters Dutch watercolourists Painters from Rotterdam Dutch people of French descent