Philip McEvansoneya looks at two versions of George Petrie’s The Last Circuit of the Pilgrims at Clonmacnoise, the first of which was commissioned for Sophia Haldimand in 1828
George Petrie (1790-1866) was a polymath, admired for his abilities as an antiquary, archaeologist, editor, linguist, musicologist and writer. He was also a successful artist who, despite working only in the watercolour medium, served as President of the Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA) from 1857-9. The two versions of his elegaic work, The Last Circuit of the Pilgrims at Clonmacnoise, are amongst his best known and most frequently reproduced paintings
