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A Closer Look; Research and the Materiality of Paintings at the National Gallery of Ireland

A unique opportunity to hear the Archivist, Librarian and Paintings Conservator of the National Gallery of Ireland talking, from each of their specialisms, about Caravaggio's 'The Taking of Christ' and Murillo's Prodigal Son series held in the National Gallery of Ireland's collection.

Online Event

A Closer Look; Research and the Materiality of Paintings at the National Gallery of Ireland.

11.00am Tuesday 9th February

Register: Please email Paul.Curran@iadt.ie to register for this talk

Showcasing the National Collection, this talk will be an introduction to the National Gallery of Ireland’s provenance studies, archive & special collection, and conservation projects. The presentation will highlight some of the most iconic works from the collection including Caravaggio’s The Taking of Christ and Murillo’s Prodigal Son series.

Credit: Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610), 'The Taking of Christ', 1602. On indefinite loan to the National Gallery of Ireland from the Jesuit Community, Leeson St., Dublin who acknowledge the kind generosity of the late Dr Marie Lea-Wilson, 1992. Photo © National Gallery of Ireland

Muirne Lydon, Paintings Conservator

Muirne Lydon joined the Paintings conservation team at the National Gallery of Ireland in 2010, and has been an accredited member of the Irish Conservators and Restorers Association since 2011. An alumnus of Dublin Institute of Technology and Northumbria University, Lydon has held positions in the Hamilton Kerr Institute in the University of Cambridge, Tate Britain, the Victoria and Albert Museum and also in private practice in London.

Leah Benson, Archivist

Educated in University College Dublin, Leah is the Archivist for the National Gallery of Ireland where she works to ensure that the holdings of all the archive collections in the Gallery are preserved, protected and accessible, as well as accurately reflecting the institution and the gallery’s own collections. She has a particular interest in archives relating to both Irish and Italian art. She lectures on these areas as part of the gallery’s public programmes as well as at national and international conferences and events. She has served as Chairperson of the Society of Archivist Ireland (now ARA), Irish representative for the ARA Committee for the Regions as well as Chairperson of the Irish legislation sub-committee amongst other positions.

Catherine Sheridan, Librarian

Catherine manages the development of the Library and Archive collection management systems and spearheads digital initiatives with a view to encouraging audience participation. Working with special collections in a museum environment, she has a particular interest in using digital technologies in support of digital preservation and access initiatives. She lectures as part of the Gallery’s education programme, has co-curated a number of Special Collections exhibitions and has coordinated and spoken at special in-focus days to introduce the collections to a wider audience. She is an active member of the ARLIS UK & Ireland: the Art Libraries Society having served on the Publications Committee and as editor of the ARLIS Bulletin. Catherine holds a Master of Library and Information Science from University College Dublin, and Bachelor of Arts in English and History and Postgraduate Diploma in Computer Science from University College Cork.

This talk has been organised with the staff of the NGI by Cecily Brennan Lecturer in the Faculty of Film, Art & Creative Technologies IADT and Paul Curran, Educational Technologist and is an element of the Materials and Techniques Module of the Art Image course. We are very grateful to Leah Benson, Muirne Lydon and Catherine Sheridan for all their work and enthusiasm for the idea.