NORTHERN ITALIAN SCHOOL (17TH CENTURY) Diana after... Lot 100

NORTHERN ITALIAN SCHOOL (17TH CENTURY) Diana after the Hunt Oil on canvas, 137 x 109.5cm Provenance: The Collection of John Whaley Esq., his sale, on the premises at Newman House, 86 St. Stephen's Green, 21st & 22nd June, 1849, catalogue number 131, as Correggio; Thence by descent to the present owner, and on loan until 2021 to University College Dublin, Newman House, 86 St. Stephen's Green. John Whaley was the younger brother of the infamous adventurer, Thomas Buck Whaley. Their father, Richard Chapell Whaley, known as Burn-Chapel Whaley for his anti-Catholic views, was a direct descendant of Oliver Cromwell. He married their mother Anne Ward, daughter of the Reverend Bernard Ward, in 1759. Anne was then only eighteen, whilst her husband was already advanced in years. She bore seven children during the following nine years. Richard Chapell Whaley began to build number 86 St. Stephen's Green circa 1765, but did not live to see it finished before his death in 1769. The Whaleys' eldest son, also Richard, died as a youngster and a large part of the family estates passed to Thomas, as eldest surviving son, on his father's death. Thomas Buck or Jerusalem Whaley, as he came to be known, was educated in Ireland until his 16th birthday when his mother sent him to France in an attempt to curb his wayward behaviour. A stint in Paris only served to encourage his recklessness and in 1788 Buck famously wagered with the Duke of Leinster that he could travel to Jerusalem and back within a year. Having completed the arduous journey, he collected £15,000 from the Duke on his return. The story of Buck's short and fast life is filled with anecdotes of similar outlandish behaviour and is well documented elsewhere. He died at the age of 33 at a Cheshire Inn, on route to London, having been reputedly stabbed by a lover whose sister had also caught his eye. The last member of the Whaley family to live at 86 St. Stephen's Green was John Whaley, former owner of the present painting. John married first Lady Anne Meade, daughter of the Earl of Clanwilliam; and second, Mary Anne, daughter of John Richardson. As executrix, the latter engaged John Littleton, auctioneer, to sell The Cabinet and Gallery Pictures, the Property of the Late John Whaley Esq., containing the most celebrated and valuable gems of that distinguished collection, embracing the purest specimens of the most esteemed ancient and modern artists, the whole of which will be sold by auction in the mansion house no. 86 St. Stephen's Green South on Thursday and Friday the 21st and 22nd June 1849. The impressive catalogue included works attributed to Titian, Veronese, Rembrandt, Bellini, Rubens and Guido Reni, with a total of 132 pictures listed.