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"A fascinating insight into Ireland's ancient burial sites" - Irish Independent |
Established
16/3/2000 |
|
The
paintings of Raymond Balfe
Sun
illuminating Dowth's southern chamber |
| This
stunning painting (oil on wood) captures that wonderful moment when
the sun shines into the southern passage at the Dowth
mound and illuminates the central chamber. The sun shines in here
from October to February, but on the evening of Winter Solstice, the
beam of light strikes a richly carved stone in the chamber. See Winter
Sunsets for more information on this phenomenon. |
| SUNSET
OVER NEWGRANGE
An
extraordinary astronomical moment was captured in this painting
by Raymond Balfe. The painting was done from the top of Dowth mound,
on the evening of November 14th, 2000, and the sun can clearly be
seen setting over the mound of Newgrange in the distance. The sun's
setting position on November 14th coincides with the setting position
of the moon during minor standstill south, which occurs roughly
once every 19 years as part of the great lunar cycle. Martin
Brennan suggested 20 years ago that some monuments in the Boyne
Valley were aligned to lunar standstills. This painting appears
to confirm this belief. It is just one of a series of sunset paintings
at Dowth by Raymond Balfe. |
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| LOOKING
WEST FROM DOWTH
Another
stunning painting from Dowth,
this time completed in the autumn, giving some very rich colours
to the scene. The painting shows the view from near the top of Dowth,
looking westwards into the Brugh na Bóinne area. Newgrange
is visible near the left of the picture close to the horizon. |
| More
paintings by Raymond Balfe | Art
index |
| Note:
All paintings are copyright of Raymond Balfe. Photographs of the
paintings are also copyright of Raymond Balfe. All rights reserved.
Under no circumstances can these images be copied or reproduced
without the prior written consent of the artist. Raymond Balfe can
be contacted at mythicalireland@eircom.net.
All images seen here are digitally scanned from print film, and
colouration may vary from the original painting. The website author
cannot be held responsible for this variation. |
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