It was a great week for Irish galleries - not only did Barbara Dawson, director of the Hugh Lane, bring home the Bacon, or at least his studio, but the National Gallery remembered a Rembrandt it had lying around. Not strictly true - the painting in question had been demoted by Dutch experts in a kind of putsch on Rembrandt fakes 25 years ago. It was up to Andrew O'Connor, the gallery's senior conservator, to redeem a painting he felt was indeed by the master rather than a servant.
It now looks as if O'Connor is absolutely right and the painting is indeed a Rembrandt, although we will have to wait for the final verdict. Carmel Naughton, the gallery's chairwoman, opened an exhibition devoted to conservation on Tuesday night, and said they hoped for confirmation as soon as next week.
On the theme of conservation, the Knight of Glin was there chatting about the Irish Georgian Society's forthcoming show at Collins Barracks. Over the weekend of September 19th20th, there will be dozens of Irish craftspeople demonstrating the skills needed to restore a period house, providing a rare chance to see the arcane art of antique lock repair, traditional mudwall building and advice on how to restore fanlights.
Others at the National Gallery's opening included James White, former director of the gallery, who first initiated the conservation project; Maighread McParland, who was up to her eyes organising an international conference of the International Institute for Conservation, which takes place in Ireland this weekend for the first time; conservator Niamh McGuinne; Paddy McEvoy, chairman of Irish Intercontinental Bank which sponsored the exhibition; and conservationist Peter Pearson.