Adam's IMPORTANT IRISH ART 27 MARCH 2024

30 20 PATRICK HENNESSY RHA (1915 - 1980) Rebuilding of Monte Cassino (1951) Oil on canvas 64 x 76cm (25¼ x 30”) Signed Provenance: Collection of Pamela and George Fegan, purchased directly from the artist, thence by descent to the present owners. Exhibited: Dublin, Royal Hibernian Academy, 1952, cat.no . 126 as ‘ Rebuilding Cassino ’; Dublin, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Patrick Hennessy: De Profundis , March/July 2016 Literature: Patrick Hennessy: De Profundis , IMMA 2016, illustrated p. 43. € 10,000 - 15,000 Monte Cassino is a rocky hill about 130 kilometres south- east of Rome, and at an elevation of 520 m it commands a panoramic view of the surrounding hills and valleys. Site of the Roman town of Casinum, it is known for its abbey, the first house of the Benedictine Order, having been es- tablished around 529AD. After centuries of sackings by invaders, abandonment and rebuilding, the 11th and 12th centuries were the ab- bey’s golden age, but this sadly was short-lived. In 1799, Monte Cassino was sacked again by French troops during the French Revolutionary Wars and was then dissolved by the Italian government in 1866, the building becoming a national monument with the monks as custodians of its treasures. During the later stages of World War II, it was the site of the Battle of Monte Cassino. On 15 February 1944 the abbey was nearly destroyed in a series of heavy, Amer- ican-led air raids. The abbey was considered a key ob- servation post and it was thought by the allies that it was occupied by the Germans. However, during the bombing no German troops were present in the abbey. Following the bombing the ruins of the monastery were occupied by the German 1st Parachute Division, due to the ruins providing excellent defensive cover. The Abbey was re- built after the war with the President of the Italian Repub- lic Luigi Einaudi committing considerable resources to the rebuilding. By the early 1950’s Patrick Hennessy was enjoying con- siderable success and saw his painting De Profundis se- lected to tour North America as part of an exhibition of Contemporary Irish Painting. A retrospective exhibition of his work from the period 1941-51 mounted by the Dub- lin Painters further confirmed his growing reputation and by this time he was in a position to travel extensively in Europe. Paintings by Hennessy exhibited at the RHA annual exhi- bitions in 1952 and ‘53, including the Rebuilding of Monte Cassino suggest that he was travelling around Italy with titles referencing (Monte) Cassino, Rome and Venice. The present work which dates to 1951 depicts a view of the abbey under a dappled blue sky, shrouded in scaffolding and displays the artist’s passion for stone, with partially destroyed masonry and brickwork in the foreground re- minding the viewer of the impact of the allied bombing raid from only seven years earlier.