The Blessed Virgin in Irish Visual Culture 1940-1960: The Evolution of the Marian Image in Modern Irish Painting of the mid-20th Century

Tania Naidoo
Trinity College Dublin
Department of History of Art and Architecture
2008
BA

Subject: Painting
Country: Ireland
Period: 20th Century

10,000 words

This dissertation explores the development of Marian Imagery in modern Irish painting from 1940-1960. The aim of this dissertation is to identify the significance of the Virgin Mary in modern Irish art, and so whilst some account of ecclesiastical art is pertinent, it is important to distinguish that this dissertation is not concerned to a great extent with the number of nature works commissioned by the Catholic Church, so much as those works featuring depictions of the Madonna that were executed by independent artists, and subsequently went into private or public collections. The time frame that has been chosen is reflective of a period of great social and cultural change both within Ireland and in Europe. In the first chapter I will give an overview of the role of Catholicism in Irish society, and the general state of Irish art.

Irish Georgian Society

Education Theses Register

The Blessed Virgin in Irish Visual Culture 1940-1960: The Evolution of the Marian Image in Modern Irish Painting of the mid-20th Century