Ireland and the Academy: Art History Reframed - Spring 2026

Art Historian Dr Matthew Whyte offers a new lecture series, which takes the audience on an art-filled journey through the often beautiful, sometimes scandalous, and always fascinating moments in the development of Western civilisation.

The lectures can be attended as a series, but are also designed as standalone talks, which can be attended individually.

Dr Whyte has lectured in Art History in University College Cork since 2014, where he completed his PhD in the art and culture of Renaissance Italy.

Week 2: Ireland and the Academy

Visual art was slow to prosper in Ireland during the Early Modern period due to political disruption and a dearth of patrons. However, a tradition of Irish painting began to flourish in the late 1600s, coinciding with the development of art academies across Europe. Beginning in Florence, Italy in 1563, the Academy would largely supplant the medieval traditions of artistic apprenticeship and institutionalise artistic education. Centres of art, culture, and significant influence, the Academy became an important centre in which national tradition and identity could develop. This period saw a dramatic surge in the development of visual art and literature throughout Europe. This was equally true in Ireland; still a part of the British Empire, Irish artists nonetheless drew on the prevailing academic tradition to create a distinctly Irish identity.

1. Tues 20 Jan
Monastic Ireland

2. Tues 27 Jan
Ireland and the Academy

3. Tues 3 Feb
Irish Art in the Age of Enlightenment

4. Tues 10 Feb
Irish Artists Abroad

5. Tues 17 Feb
The National Collection in Cork’s Crawford Art Gallery

6. Tues 24 Feb
Irish Contemporary Art