Lot 88: Martin Cregan PRHA PRIA (1788-1870) PORTRAIT OF

Martin Cregan PRHA PRIA (1788-1870) PORTRAIT OF SIR SAMUEL ROMILLY oil on canvas 36 by 30cm., 14 by 12in. Born in Co. Meath, Cregan was sponsored by the Stewarts of Killymoon, Co. Tyrone, to study at the Royal Dublin Society's Drawing School, where he won medals in 1806 and 1807. Such was his aptitude he was sent to London to further his studies and there became the first and only pupil of Sir Martin Archer Shee PRA. In London he befriended Constable and Landseer among others, and began exhibiting at the RA. He returned to Dublin in 1822 and the following year became a founding member of the RHA. He was elected President of the RHA in 1832 and held the post for twenty-three years. During these years Cregan was the leading portrait painter in Ireland and by 1849 held the post of Portrait Painter to the Lord Lieutenant. Strickland described Cregan's portraits as "marked by feeling and refinement, and a good sense of colour". This portrait of Sir Samuel Romilly (1757-1818) by Cregan is testament to Strickland's observations. Romilly is famed as a legal reformer of his day and was author of pivotal legal literature such as, Observations (1786), a retort text to Martin Madan's Thoughts on Executive Justice, which advocated an increase in capital punishments. Romilly's attempts to reform criminal law in England and his passionate efforts on behalf of humanity were to occupy his whole life and ultimately brought him public recognition and respect in his latter years. His agony at the death of his wife in 1818 led him to delirium and a swift, tragic death. A mezzotint of this portrait of Sir Samuel Romilly was made by Samuel William Reynolds (c.1818), an edition of which can be found in the collection of The National Portrait Gallery, London (NPG D5835), acquired from an unknown source, 1956. A watercolour portrait by Sir George Hayter of Cregan as a young man can be found in the collection of the National Gallery of Ireland. For a list of known works see Strickland, Vol. I, pages 224-233.