Gaspare Gabrielli (1770–1828) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

painter, active in painting land- and sea-scapes in a Neoclassical style. He worked for many years in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. He was a key witness in the Cloncurry

adultery Adultery (from Latin ''adulterium'') is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and legal ...

case in 1807, where he gave compelling evidence of Lady Cloncurry's affair with Sir John Piers.

History

Gabrielli was recruited to work in Ireland by

Baron Cloncurry Baron Cloncurry, of Cloncurry in the County of Kildare, was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created on 29 December 1789 for Sir Nicholas Lawless, 1st Baronet, who had earlier represented Lifford in the Irish House of Commons. He had a ...

in 1805 to decorate the family's country house, now titled

Lyons Demesne Lyons Demesne, also Lyons Estate, is a country house and estate in Lyons Hill, County Kildare, Ireland. It is located near Newcastle Demesne and Celbridge, to the northeast of Tipperstown, west of the city centre of Dublin. The Georgian house, ...

County Kildare County Kildare ( ga, Contae Chill Dara) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county, ...

. The Baron also imported shiploads of classical treasures from

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. Gabrielli's stay at Lyons was not without romance or controversy. The romance was that Gabrielli married Lady Cloncurry's maid; the controversy was that he was called as a witness in a highly publicized adultery trial in 1807 by Baron Valentine Cloncurry against Sir

John Bennett Piers, 6th Baronet Sir John Bennett Piers, 6th Baronet, of Tristernagh Abbey, (1772 – 22 July 1845) was an Anglo-Irish baronet, now mainly remembered for his part in the Cloncurry case, an adultery scandal of the early 19th century, and for being the subject of ...

, for having carried an affair with Lady Georgiana Cloncurry in full view of Gabrielli as he worked on his frescoes. The painted decorations in the house are "The Bay of Dublin" (dining-room) and "Views of Herculaneum" in panels in the small drawing-room. Gabrielli also frescoed at

Tandragee Castle Tandragee Castle, Tandragee, County Armagh, Northern Ireland, was built in 1837 by The 6th Duke of Manchester as the family's Irish home. The Duke of Manchester acquired the estate through his marriage to Millicent Sparrow (1798–1848). Histo ...

for

Lady Olivia Sparrow Lady Olivia Sparrow (née Acheson) (1776–1863) was an Anglo-Irish landowner and philanthropist, widowed in 1805. She was a prominent evangelical, belonging to 29 societies engaged in related causes, and a friend of both Hannah More and William ...

, and in the drawing-room of No. 41

North Great George's Street North Great George's Street () is a street on the Northside of Dublin city first laid out in 1766 which connects Parnell Street with Great Denmark Street. It consists of opposing terraces of 4-storey over basement red-brick Georgian townhouses ...

. In Cromwell's ''Excursions through Ireland'', published in 1820, are two plates from drawings by Gabrielli: "

Carlow Castle Carlow Castle ( ga, Caisleán Cheatharlach) is located near to the River Barrow in County Carlow, Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated fro ...

" and "

Drimnagh Castle Drimnagh Castle ( ga, Caisleán Dhroimeanaigh) is a Norman castle located in Drimnagh, a suburb of Dublin, Ireland. It is the only remaining castle in Ireland with a flooded moat around it; this moat is fed by a small local river, the Camac. ...

". In Dublin, Gabrielli was active as a landscape painter, participating in various exhibitions between 1809 and 1814, and serving as vice-president of the Society of Artists of Ireland in 1811. In 1819, he returned to Italy, and while he sent some pictures back to Ireland, he does not appear to have returned.Biography from 'A Dictionary of Irish Artists'
by Walter G. Strickland, 1913.

References

1770 births 1828 deaths 18th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 19th-century Italian painters 19th-century Italian male artists 19th-century Irish painters Irish male painters Italian neoclassical painters Italian expatriates in Ireland 19th-century Irish male artists 18th-century Italian male artists {{Italy-painter-19thC-stub