The National Gallery of Ireland yesterday unveiled its share of a £25 million collection of Italian Old Masters bequeathed by Sir Denis Mahon, the collector and art historian. The gift was accepted by the Minister for Arts, Ms Sile de Valera. Sir Denis stipulated that a condition of the gift was that the gallery should not charge for admission. Originally Sir Denis (87) had intended to donate five paintings from his collection of 76 to the gallery, but it received another three, originally destined for the Walker Gallery in Liverpool, when that gallery decided to charge admission for economic reasons.
The director of the National Gallery, Mr Raymond Keaveney, thanked Sir Denis for an "extremely generous and wonderful gift". He said Sir Denis joined a distinguished list of benefactors of the gallery, who included Sir Hugh Lane, George Bernard Shaw, Alfred Chester Beatty and Sir Alfred and Lady Beit.
Mr Sergio Benedetti, senior curator of the gallery, said that the bequest improved significantly its collection of Baroque art.
Sir Denis's collection of Italian Baroque art is the largest in private hands in the world. He has spent his life studying and collecting Italian paintings from the 17th century. In 1993 he helped Mr Benedetti to authenticate the National Gallery's The Taking of Christ as a genuine Caravaggio.
Sir Denis has been a stern critic of British museums and art galleries charging admission. The Cultural Institutions Act introduced by the last Irish government severely limits the ability of the National Gallery to introduce charges, even if it wanted to, and this swayed Sir Denis's decision to give eight paintings to Dublin.
He bought his first Italian Baroque painting in Paris in the 1930s. This was Guercino's Jacob Blessing the Sons of Joseph. It is one of the eight now going on show in Dublin. Sir Denis stopped buying in the 1960s because he said prices had become "silly". He never paid more than £2,000 for any one work.
The exhibition at the National Gallery is called "A Scholar's Eye: Paintings from the Sir Denis Mahon Collection". It continues until January 31st, 1998.
The paintings are St John the Baptist Visited in Prison by Salome by Giovanna Francesco Barbieri, known as Guercino ("the squint-eyed"), and the same painter's Jacob Blessing the Sons of Joseph. St Mary Magdalene in the Wilderness is attributed to Annibale Carracci. St Mary Magdalene is by Domenico Zampieri, known as Domenichino.
Abraham's Sacrifice near Bethel is by Sebastien Bourdon. The Death of Cleopatra is by Guido Reni. Venus, Mars and the Forge of Vulcan is by Luca Giordano. Pier Francesco Mola painted Landscape with St Bruno in Ecstasy.