Sir Frederic William Burton (1816 – 1900)
Portrait of Miss Mary Palliser (1834-1879)
Graphite and watercolour on paper: 105.3 x 85 cm

On loan from the Provincial Archives of Saskatchewan, Canada. R-D2220

Sir Frederic William Burton, though born in Wicklow, spent his childhood at Clifden House, Corofin, County Clare. When the family moved to Dublin, he was taught by the Henry Brocas’s, father and son, masters at the Dublin Society Drawing Schools, who specialised in watercolours. He took portrait miniature painting classes from Samuel Lover. Burton established himself as a painter of subject pictures and landscapes, although portraits of notable sitters were the mainstay of his career. In 1839 aged 23 he was elected a Royal Hibernian Academician.

Following his early career in Ireland, Burton moved to Munich in 1851, travelling extensively, sketching and painting, undertaking work for the King of Bavaria and expanding his knowledge of old master paintings.

In 1858 he settled in London, where his work was influenced by the Pre-Raphaelite painters. He increased his art history knowledge and became a noted antiquarian. His best known work, Hellelil and Hildebrand, the Meeting on the Turret Stairs’, 1864, (National Gallery of Ireland) was voted Ireland’s favourite painting in 2012. In 1874 he became Director of the National Gallery, London (1874-1894), and gave up painting.

In 1868 Burton was commissioned to paint a portrait of Mary Palliser of Comeragh House, County Waterford, by her friend Miss Eleanor Arbuthnot. Mary came from an Anglo-Irish family, the daughter of Lieutenant Colonel Wray Bury Palliser and his wife Anne Gledstanes. Her eldest brother Sir John Palliser was a famous Irish explorer who surveyed Western Canada in the late 1850s. At Mary’s request, the portrait was painted in Comeragh House where it seems the couple became betrothed. Her cameo engagement ring is visible on her hand. Mary is shown in profile, her chestnut hair gracing her shoulders in a pose reminiscent of Burton’s idealised images of women from history and literature. It evokes the unique bond between the artist and the sitter.

By the time the portrait was finished in 1871, Burton was 55 and Mary 37. He was not wealthy and wedding plans were postponed. Meanwhile Mary modelled for several of his paintings. When the appointment to the National Gallery came there seemed no reason to defer marriage. According to Lady Gregory, “His devotion was no less than before, yet the moment never came”. Mary suffered from poor health and died in 1879 of pneumonia in London. She is buried in the little Kilrossanty Churchyard near the family home. Burton died in 1900, having remained single. He is buried in Mount Jerome cemetery, Dublin.

Their love, like the portrait, is immortalised in Burton’s short poem, ‘Farewell to Mary’ – “I will remember thee Mary wherever thou art!”

DUE TO THE FRAGILE NATURE OF THIS ARTWORK,
VIEWING TAKES PLACE EVERY SATURDAY 11AM – 12 NOON