Brief Biography-George Petrie was born in Dublin in 1790 to James Petrie, a miniature painter and archaeologist. The Dublin Society Schools awarded him a silver medal as a young teenager. Petrie was close friends with Francis Danby and James Arthur O'Connor, with whom he travelled to London in 1813. His stay with them was brief; however, later in the same year, all three visited Wales for painting trips as they used to do in Wicklow when they were students in Dublin. Back in Ireland, Petrie visited various locations, including the Aran Islands, and he submitted his only two pictures to the Royal Academy of Glenmalure and Glendalough. In addition, he did numerous illustrations for Irish publications and, in 1828, was the first watercolourist to become a full member of the Royal Academy. The Royal Hibernian Academy made him a Librarian responsible for the Topographical Survey of Ireland. Also, it kept him busy acquiring important Irish manuscripts until 1846, when he began concentrating on painting again. Petrie was also a collector of traditional Irish music and never got around to painting oils. Nevertheless, his watercolours are considered the most celebrated by an Irish painter at that time.