(Chur 1741–1807 Rome)
Portrait of the Irish jurist and politician Philip Tisdall SL (1703–1777),
signed and dated centre right: Angelica Kauffman/Pinx. Ao. 177.(?),
oil on canvas, 92 x 72 cm, framed

An old label on the stretcher:
The Right Hon. ble Philip Tisdall/Attorney General and afterward Lord/Chancellor of Ireland = 1760/Married Mary Singleton - La Belle

Provenance:
Austrian private collection

Exhibited:
Vorarlberger Landesmuseum, Bregenz, and Angelika Kauffmann Museum, Schwarzenberg, Angelika Kauffmann - Ein Weib von ungeheurem Talent, 14 June–5 November 2007, no. 44

Literature:
Angelika Kauffmann - Ein Weib von ungeheurem Talent, ed. by Tobias G. Natter, exhibition catalogue, Ostfildern 2007, p. 112

The sitter, Philip Tisdall, was a member of the Irish House of Commons between 1739 and 1776 for the University of Dublin and then from 1776 until his death for the city of Armagh. He also had a distinguished career in the legal field at the service of the government, becoming “Third Serjeant” in 1742, then “Solicitor General” in 1751 and finally “Attorney General” in 1760. In 1763, King George III made Tisdall “Principal Secretary of State”; the following year he became a member of the “Privy Council of Ireland”. As a result of his temperamental nature, Tisdall was called “Black Phil”. His wife Mary, born Singleton, was famous for her beauty as well as for her soirées at their house on Leinster Street in Dublin and at their country estate Stillorgan Park (cf C. Helbok, Miss Angel, Vienna 1968, p. 107). In addition to the present painting of the statesman, Angelika Kauffmann also executed a large-sized portrait of Philip Tisdall with his family (private collection). In 1771, Kauffmann spent a few months in Dublin as a guest of George Townshend, 1st Marquess Townshend and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Her elegant portraits made her immensely successful among Anglo-Irish society on the Emerald Isle, too. She executed numerous portraits of members of the wealthy Irish aristocracy during that period, such as portraits of Lord Townshend and his family, Lord and Lady Ely with two young ladies, Lady Caroline Damer, Lord Milton and Lord Ferrard with his son. All these portraits bear witness to the enormous success Angelika Kauffmann enjoyed not only in England, but also in Ireland.