Detail of the Diagorides Victors (from Crowning the Victors at Olympia)
James Barry, RA (Cork 1741 – London 1806)
Category
Art / Prints
Date
1795
Materials
Etching and line engraving on paper in oak frame
Measurements
742 x 489 mm
Order this imageCollection
Ardress House, County Armagh
NT 247690.2
Summary
Etching and line engraving on paper, Detail of the Diagorides Victors (from Crowning the Victors at Olympia) by James Barry, RA (Cork 1741 – London 1806), 1795. One of a set of six engravings of scenes from: A Series of Etchings by James Barry, Esq. from his Original and Justly Celebrated Paintings, in the Great Room of the Society of Arts. Painted, engraved and published May 1st 1795 by James Barry R.A. Professor of painting to the Royal Academy. One of the engravings is dated Feb. 28th 1793. Diagoras of Rhodes, a 'most distinguished man of all the Greeks', is carried on the shoulders of his two victorious sons, having won prizes in the Olympics, through crowds of people celebrating, throwing flowers from the steps where they have been watching the games. Crowning the Victors at Olympia was the third painting of three panels in the series of six pictures of 'The Progress of Human Knowledge and Culture' in the Great Room of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce.
Marks and inscriptions
Recto: Lettered below the image, beginning with one line over the base of the image "The Laws of Olympia requiring that these Contested Strenuous Exertions should be accompanied with the Conservation of Integrity as the only becoming & the True Victory, this Groupe &c.", with a further inscription in Italian, dedicating the detail to the Papal government, patron of the arts: "Questo Gruppo di Diagoras, e i suoi Figlioli preso dal Quadro dei Vittori Olympici comme un picolo mazzo di fiori ed in testimonio dal piu profondo e affectionatissimo Veneratione e gratitudine, e gettato per ornare il Corso Esemplare & Triumphante del Governo Papale di Roma, Madre e graziosa Prottetrice delle Arti Laudabile e Ingenosi, per Giacomo Barry RA Professor of Painting, to the Royal Academy & Member of the Clementine Academy of Bologna Painted En. & Publ. May. 1. 1795 by JB".
Makers and roles
James Barry, RA (Cork 1741 – London 1806), engraver (printmaker)
References
Pressly 1981 William L. Pressley, The Life and Art of James Barry, Yale University Press, 1981