Search
06 Sept 2025
Search
06 Sept 2025
Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.
Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist.
If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter .
Support our mission and join our community now.
To continue reading this article, you can subscribe for as little as €0.50 per week which will also give you access to all of our premium content and archived articles!
Alternatively, you can pay €0.50 per article, capped at €1 per day.
Thank you for supporting Ireland's best local journalism!
A Dutch girl at Breakfast.
Sam Matthewssam.matthews@kilkennypeople.ie @SamAMatthewsKP
A prized work of art, which recently achieved a world record auction price for a piece by Jean-Etienne Liotard, has an interesting Kilkenny connection.
Liotard's A Dutch Girl at Breakfast fetched £4.4 million at Sotheby's 'Old Masters' sale in London. The painting was bought from the artist 250 years ago by the 2nd Earl of Bessborough, William Ponsoby, and remained in the possession of his relatives since.
As chief secretary for Ireland in the mid-18th Century, Ponsonby's Irish seat was none other than classical-style Bessborough House in Piltown, which is of course now home to the Kildalton Agricultural College.
The stunning painting will now be displayed at its new Dutch home, the Rijksmuseum’s Gallery of Honour, from mid-January.
Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie
Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.
Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.
This publication supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman, and our staff operate within the Code of Practice of the Press Council. You can obtain a copy of the Code, or contact the Council, at www.presscouncil.ie, Lo-call 1800 208 080 or email: info@presscouncil.ie.
