West, Benjamin “The Battle of the Boyne”

Benjamin West.  “The Battle of the Boyne.” 

London:  B. West, J. Hall and W. Woollett, 18 October, 1784.  16 1/2 x 23 1/4 (image).  Engraving.  Modern hand color.  Very god condition.  Ref.:  Erfaa and Staley, The Paintings of Benjamin West: entries 88 and 89.  

An event in the Jacobite Rebellion of 1689-1691.  The deposed King James II left his exile in France and began raising an army in Ireland  to oppose William and Mary so that Catholicism rather than Protestantism would be the ruling power in Great Britain.  William III (William of Orange) led his own army to Ireland, and on 1 July 1690 at the Boyne River he soundly defeated James and his Irish-Catholic army.  Ever since that day the Protestants of Ireland have worn the color orange and celebrated 12 July (1 July on the Julian calendar) as a famous and favorable day.

Benjamin West painted this scene for Richard, Lord Grosvenor (later the First Lord Grosvenor), and it has remained in the family to this day.  When this print was published in 1784, it was dedicated to George the Prince of Wales, later George IV.  As historical painter to George III he was fulfilling his function as a painter who celebrated great events that would have found favor for this Protestant king.  William III is the central figure on the white horse.  To the left and behind him are Prince George of Denmark and the Duke of Ormond.  To the right of the picture the Duke of Shomberg is carried from the field, and in the center, far background, the small figure falling from is horse is the Reverend George Walker, the Protestant Rector of Donaghmore.  James II is not shown because he stayed away from the battle.  This print is a memorial to a major event in the history of Great Britain, with extreme importance for the future of Ireland.