Beschreibung:

Nick Hugh McCann (British, b.1957) Lord Byron sees Nicolo Giraud for the first time in Attica, Greece in 1809 signed lower left with initials "NHM" oil on linen in a water-gilded frame by Russell & Chapple (Store Street Framing) with a title plaque by Gino Franchi, Bond Street, London h:91 w:121 cm Provenance: Commissioned by Byronists and Collectors, Messrs Clarke & Davidson in 2016, the picture has come back to the artist's collection through bequest Other Notes: Lord Byron went on a cultural Grand Tour of Europe between July 1809 and July 1811, departing from Falmouth in Cornwall and returning to Sheerness in Kent. After an extended tour of southern Portugal, Spain and Gibraltar, he embarked upon a Mediterranean island-hopping adventure, falling in love in every port and at every possible opportunity with women and men alike. To help ward off local banditti, troublemakers and undesirables, he wore an iconic and highly visible scarlet English Staff tunic when riding out; the Peninsular Wars were raging and parts of Continental Europe had great respect for the British military uniform. He finally settled in Athens, in those days no larger than a small town, with the nearby port of Piraeus equally undeveloped and idyllic. There, Byron formed a strong romantic and sexual bond with the young Nicolo Giraud; Greek born, with French parents. A brilliant linguist, the young and charismatic Giraud helped teach Byron Greek and Italian - the romantic language Byron came to love during his later years of exile in Italy. Athens' Acropolis and the Parthenon are seen in the distance with Mount Lycabettus beyond. To the right is the Temple of Poseidon on Cape Sounion, immortalised in Byron's poem, The Isles of Greece: Place me on Sunium's marbled steep, Where nothing, save the waves and I, May hear our mutual murmurs sweep; There, swan-like, let me sing and die: A land of slaves shall ne'er be mine Dash down yon cup of Samian wine ! Byron died in Missolonghi, Western Greece in 1824 and today, a version of McCann's watercolour Lord Byron's Last Journey, hangs in the Mayor's office in the town. The work also featured in Kirsty Walk's BBC documentary, Byron - Exile on Fame Street. The artist has visited every location associated with Byron in Britain and Europe including Albania before it was an accessible country.