| Description | Replica plasterworks depicting: (1) an allegory of 'Grammar', one of the seven Liberal Arts or disciplines connected to learning - grammar, logic, rhetoric, arithmetic, music, geometry, and astronomy. The female figure is shown in drapery reminiscent of classical sculpture. She holds an urn, pouring its contents over fronds in a jar, symbolising Grammar 'watering' and encouraging young minds; (2) the helmetted figure of Greek mythological hero Achilles, with an arrow-filled quiver and spear; (3) decorative festoon and face seen over the 'Ceres' panel (Ref. No. HI/1977-4). Copies based on the originals found in Riverstown House, Cork by the noted Swiss-Italian stuccoists, Paolo Lafranchini (1695-1776) and his brother Filipo (1702-c.1779). In the 1960s, the Irish Georgian Society campaigned for the restoration of Riverstown, concerned for the fate of this important example of the Lafranchini’s work in Ireland. Raymond McGrath oversaw the taking of moulds from the originals and a suite of facsimiles were made for Áras an Uachtaráin. Although speculative, it seems likely that the College’s panels were made from the same moulds. |
| Custodial History | Presented by outgoing President Bryan Alton |