The Cincinnati Art Museum

May the luck of the Irish be with you this St. Patrick’s Day!

"In The Harp of Erin the female figure is a personification that carries a political message. The young woman, wearing shamrocks in her hair and a green scarf, symbolizes Ireland. She is chained to a large rock that represents England. The title reinforces the artist’s meaning, as the harp is Ireland’s national symbol and Erin its ancient name.

During the 19th century, widespread famine and England’s political oppression caused large-scale immigration of the Irish to the United States. By 1851, the Irish were the second largest immigrant community in Cincinnati, representing 12 percent of the population. (The German community represented 28 percent.) The plight of the Irish deeply concerned politically aware Americans.

Both a poet and a painter, Thomas Buchanan Read was born in Pennsylvania and came to Cincinnati when he was 15. Although he spent much of his life elsewhere, he always considered the Queen City home and painted this work while in residence here."
. Thomas Buchanan Read (American, 1822–1872), The Harp of Erin, 1867, oil on canvas, Gift of Mrs. Michael M. Shoemaker, 1934