Gaspare Gabrielli (1770–1828) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

painter, active in painting land- and sea-scapes in a Neoclassical style. He worked for many years in

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 ...

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 ...

. He was a key witness in the Cloncurry

adultery Adultery is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and legal consequences, the concept ...

case in 1807, where he gave compelling evidence of Lady Cloncurry's affair with Sir John Piers.

History

Gabrielli was recruited to work in Ireland by

Baron Cloncurry Baron Cloncurry, of Cloncurry in the County of Kildare, was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created on 29 December 1789 for Nicholas Lawless, 1st Baron Cloncurry, Sir Nicholas Lawless, 1st Baronet, who had earlier represented Lifford (P ...

in 1805 to decorate the family's country house, now titled

Lyons Demesne Lyons Demesne, also Lyons Estate, is a country house and estate in Lyons Hill, County Kildare, Ireland. It is located near Newcastle Demesne and Celbridge, to the northeast of Tipperstown, west of the city centre of Dublin. The Georgian house, c ...

County Kildare County Kildare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the Local gove ...

. The Baron also imported shiploads of classical treasures from

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. Gabrielli's stay at Lyons was not without romance or controversy. The romance was that Gabrielli married Lady Cloncurry's maid; the controversy was that he was called as a witness in a highly publicized adultery trial in 1807 by Baron Valentine Cloncurry against Sir

John Bennett Piers, 6th Baronet Sir John Bennett Piers, 6th Baronet of Tristernagh Abbey (1772 – 22 July 1845), was an Anglo-Irish baronet. He is primarily remembered for his involvement in the Cloncurry case, an adultery scandal that took place in the early 19th century. A ...

, for having carried an affair with Lady Georgiana Cloncurry in full view of Gabrielli as he worked on his frescoes. The painted decorations in the house are "The Bay of Dublin" (dining-room) and "Views of Herculaneum" in panels in the small drawing-room. Gabrielli also frescoed at

Tandragee Castle The current Tandragee Castle, Tandragee, County Armagh, Northern Ireland, was rebuilt in 1837 by George Montagu, 6th Duke of Manchester as the family's Irish home. The 6th Duke of Manchester acquired the estate through his marriage to Millicent ...

for

Lady Olivia Sparrow Lady Olivia Sparrow (née Acheson) (1776–1863) was an Anglo-Irish landowner and philanthropist, widowed in 1805. She was a prominent evangelical, belonging to 29 societies engaged in related causes, and a friend of both Hannah More and William ...

, and in the drawing-room of No. 41

North Great George's Street North Great George's Street () is a street on the Northside of Dublin city first laid out in 1766 which connects Parnell Street with Great Denmark Street. It consists of opposing terraces of 4-storey over basement red-brick Georgian townhou ...

. In Cromwell's ''Excursions through Ireland'', published in 1820, are two plates from drawings by Gabrielli: "

Carlow Castle Carlow Castle () is located near the River Barrow in County Carlow, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It was built between 1207 and 1213, and is a National Monument (Ireland), National Monument of Ireland. History and Architecture The earliest wr ...

" and "

Drimnagh Castle Drimnagh Castle () is a Normans, Norman castle located in Drimnagh, a suburb of Dublin, Ireland. It is the only remaining castle in Ireland with a flooded moat around it; this moat is fed by a tributary of a local river, the River Camac, Camac. ...

". In Dublin, Gabrielli was active as a landscape painter, participating in various exhibitions between 1809 and 1814, and serving as vice-president of the Society of Artists of Ireland in 1811. In 1819, he returned to Italy, and while he sent some pictures back to Ireland, he does not appear to have returned.Biography from 'A Dictionary of Irish Artists'
by Walter G. Strickland, 1913.

References

1770 births 1828 deaths 18th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 19th-century Italian painters 19th-century Italian male artists 19th-century Irish painters Irish male painters Italian neoclassical painters Italian expatriates in Ireland 19th-century Irish male artists 18th-century Italian male artists {{Italy-painter-19thC-stub