Unknown artist (British?,  19th 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 1stcentury 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)