Lot 119: Philip Hussey

Philip Hussey
1713-1783
portrait of samuel madden (1686-1765)
half length, wearing clerical robes
oil on canvas, in a painted oval, in a carved wood frame
73 by 60 cm., 28 3/4 by 23 3/4 in.
The sitter was the son of Dr John Madden, an original member of the Irish College of Physicians, and his wife Mary, daughter of Samuel Molyneux. He published a tragedy, Themistocles, in 1727 and wrote a wide variety of texts including the satire 'Memoirs of the 20th Century, being original letters of state under George the sixth'. He was a founder member of the Dublin Society, formed for the improvement of 'husbandry, manufactures, and other useful arts'. Madden was assisted by Dr Johnson in the preparation of 'Boulter's Monument, a Panegyrical poem, sacred to the memory of Dr Hugh Boulter, Lord Archbishop of Armagh'. Madden also was the benefactor of a fund for students at Dublin University, and Dr Johnson declared that 'his was a name that Ireland ought to honour'.
Provenance:
William Dillan, Dublin