Irish Fine Art in the Early Modern Period: New Perspectives on Artistic Practice 1620-1820

This richly illustrated book presents the finest contemporary research on Irish fine art from the 17th and 18th centuries. It was during this period that the luxury commodities which comprise fine art - sculpture, painting, miniatures, prints - became signifiers of the ‘cultured’ lifestyle emulated by the social elites in Ireland. These artefacts, in their production, consumption, appreciation, display and exchange, reveal the ethnic, social and political tensions that defined these turbulent centuries. Masterfully edited by Ireland’s leading art historians Irish Fine Art in the Early Modern Period takes its subject matter beyond the realms of academic journals, exhibitions and conferences, and presents it as a vital publication in defining the importance of Ireland’s artistic and social history. The contributors, both established and emergent Irish art historians, approach the production and reception of fine art in Ireland in the period c.1620-c.1 820 with substantial new work on a wide range of themes; lavishly designed with over 100 colour reproductions, their writings are set to elicit newfound appreciations and provoke discourse in an area which, until now, has yet to receive its definitive text.