Gabriel Beranger

Gabriel Beranger (died 1817) was a Dutch artist, known for his works showing Irish antiquities.

Life

Born in Rotterdam about 1729, Beranger was from a Huguenot background. and was descended from one of the Huguenots who had settled in Holland. In 1760, when he was about 21 years, he went to Ireland to join family members there.^[1]

Beranger opened a print shop and artist's warehouse at 5 South Great George's Street, Dublin, and followed the profession of an artist. Charles Vallancey and William Conyngham became his patrons and found him a government situation in the Dublin exchequer office.^[1]

In later life Beranger was financially independent, after a bequest from his brother-in-law. He died at the age of 88, and was interred in the French burial-ground in Dublin.^[1]

Works

Rathfarnham Castle (1774), watercolour by Gabriel Beranger

Beranger drew the antiquities of Dublin and its neighbourhood, and then, with the French artist Angelo Bigari, sketching tours through Leinster, Connaught, and Ulster. Many of his drawings are accompanied by descriptions of the places and people he visited. He transferred his drawings and descriptions to manuscript volumes intended for publication, most of which were kept in Dublin, in the Royal Irish Academy and elsewhere. The drawings give the appearance of ancient buildings and stone monuments that later deteriorated or were destroyed. George Petrie made use of these drawings to illustrate his book on the round towers of Ireland.^[1]

Notes

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Attribution

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Stephen, Leslie, ed. (1885). "Beranger, Gabriel". Dictionary of National Biography 4. London: Smith, Elder & Co.