Adam's IRISH OLD MASTERS 5th November 2024

52 successful motif of a horse with a rider stoop- ing to drink. A closely comparable motif can be found in Roberts’s View near Enniskerry , also in the National Gallery of Ireland (NGI, 4703, Laffan and Rooney, 10). The white horse is something of a Roberts trademark and here its reflection is beautifully captured in the still, mirror-like pool of water. This detail is less clearly apparent in the somewhat abraded picture in the National Gallery of Ireland. As Brendan Rooney and Nicola Figgis note of the NGI work, ‘certain details, which are recognis - ably Irish in character such as the ruins and the foliage, demonstrate how successfully Roberts appropriated a Continental model to suit his own particular sensibilities’ (Nicola Figgis and Brendan Rooney, Irish Paintings in the National Gallery of Ireland , Vol. 1, 2001, 408). Part of the success of the painting, which is in notice - ably well-preserved condition, is owing to its unusual support of a panel of wood rather than canvas. The lustrous surface of the panel allowed the artist to bring the composition to an exceptionally high degree of finish – some - thing at which Roberts excelled. The artist availed of supports of different materials on occasion. One of his views of Belleek, County Fermanagh, is painted on the usual support of paper laid down on canvas. The picture is housed in its original carved, gilded and sand - ed Irish frame of a type that has been found on several other works by Roberts and which he clearly favoured. Thomas Roberts (1748-1777) Landscape with a River and Horses by a Wooden Bridge Oil on canvas, 42.5 x 52.5 cm Purchased 1877, (NGI.116) Courtesy of the National Gallery of Ireland