ADAM'S IMPORTANT IRISH ART 28th May 2025

66 49 PATRICK PYE RHA (1929-2018) The Path of the Lamb (1966) Oil on canvas (pentaptych) Panel 1: 102 x 70cm / Panel 2: 102 x 107cm / Panel 3: 102 x 43cm / Panel 4: 102 x 112cm / Panel 5: 102 x 61cm Overall: 102 x 393cm (40¼ x 154¾”) Signed and dated 1966; signed and inscribed verso Provenance: Hendriks Gallery, Dublin; Private Collection € 10,000 - 15,000 This pentaptych is reminiscent of early Christian and Renaissance altarpieces that were often an inspiration for Patrick Pye’s work of religious subjects. Pye won the Mainie Jellett Scholarship, a stipend that allowed him to travel Europe and, in particular, to visit the National Museum of Barcelona where he was further inspired by its collection of Romanesque Catalan art. From here, much of Pye’s artistic output was dictated by Christian iconography and many of his pieces now hang in religious institutions. This present work was commissioned by the Dominican Order as the altar piece for Saint Saviour’s Church on Dominick Street in Dublin in the 1960s. Since the Renais- sance, polyptych panel compositions were often used by artists, allowing multiple narratives to unfold across the panels. This was particularly pertinent in the Middle Ages and Renaissance period, when altar pieces and paintings in churches functioned as visual guides, for often quite com- plex theological ideas, for a mostly illiterate congregation. The life of Christ was seen as an essential embodiment of Christian teachings. Over the five sections the Passion of Christ unfolds from the first panel depicting Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane to the betrayal by Judas, the cloth of Saint Veronica, the crucifixion scene and finally the resurrection. The title of the work reflects the proclamation made by the disciple John, following Christs’ appearance to him, ‘Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.’ (John 1:29). Pye’s work as a stained glass artist is also evident here, in the use of multi-panel composition and the strong primary colours used within the work, to identify key figures within the narrative. The brushstrokes are applied in short, varied strokes, enlivening the surface of the composition. He alternates the sizes of the panels depending on the impor- tance of events within the narrative. In the second panel, he has combined three scenes, the betrayal by Judas who approaches Christ in the centre, followed by the officers carrying spears to make his arrest and then in the lower left-hand corner, what appears to be the subsequent trial of Jesus before the Sanhedrin. The final panel, possibly the most dramatic in terms of com- positional arrangement, depicts Jesus’ resurrection from an open coffin, holding the Triumphal cross. He rises above a figure, presumably Mary Magdalene, who falls backward onto the ground in shock and terror. Pye has employed strong foreshortening techniques within this panel, placing the figure at the edge of the picture plane as if their extend- ed arm is about to reach out beyond the frame. An interesting inclusion in the narrative is the third panel depicting the cloth of Saint Veronica. It was an apocryphal event within the larger episode of the Stations of the Cross in which local a woman Veronica, so moved by the suffer- ing of Jesus offers her veil to wipe his face. On returning the veil, his face was miraculously transposed onto it. She holds this up before another figure, who raises their arms in exaltation. Niamh Corcoran, April 2025