* Unknown (British 19C?) Destruction of the Druids in Anglesea {1867} Loc? [PA]

Unknown artist (British?,  19^th century?)
Destruction of the Druids in Anglesea
Oil on canvas, c. 60 x 140 cm (24” x 55”)
Presented by Thomas Loader, 1867; de-accessioned and sold at auction, 1946
Unidentified, present location unknown

This painting, listed in NGV 1894 but not in NGV 1905, was de-acquisitioned in 1946.

The surviving Druids based on the Welsh island of Anglesey were subdued by the invading Romans during the second half of the 1^stcentury A.D. The historian Tacitus wrote a vivid description of the Roman soldiers’ startled reaction to the Druids, “pouring out frightful curses with their hands raised high to the heavens.”

See also Hering Druidical monuments 1871 {1872} NGV [PA].

Refs.

AR 1870A, p.188, Schedule XLIII (as presented 1867); SB, p.301, noting the 1946 auction; NGV 1894, p.128 (V.Buvelot Gallery, south wall, no.19); not listed in NGV 1905 

For the relevant historical background, see e.g. http://www.anglesey-history.co.uk/anghist.html (accessed 9 March 2016; quoting Tacitus)