National Gallery buys old master

The National Gallery of Ireland's latest major acquisition has arrived at Merrion Square in Dublin where it is due to go on display…

The National Gallery of Ireland's latest major acquisition has arrived at Merrion Square in Dublin where it is due to go on display next month.

The full-length portrait of Richard Wall (1694-1778) by Louis-Michel van Loo (17071771), a leading portrait painter to the French and Spanish royal families, was purchased earlier this year in New York. It cost £182,000 at a sale of Old Masters at Sotheby's.

Mr Raymond Keaveney, director of the gallery, said the painting was "a superb example of French rococo portraiture executed with great panache".

The picture shows Richard Wall, a Spanish diplomat who was born in Coolnamuck, Co Waterford, in his official role as ambassador. Wall emigrated to Spain in 1718 and became a Spanish subject. In 1727, he gained diplomatic experience as secretary to the Duke of Liria in the Spanish embassy in St Petersburg, and in 1748 was appointed to the London embassy where he served until 1752. He returned to Spain and became foreign minister and later secretary of state. He retired near Granada in 1764.

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The painter, Louis-Michel van Loo, came from a distinguished family of artists of Dutch origin and is considered one of the finest portraitists of his generation.