The Death of St Peter the Martyr,
after Titian

by James Atkins, (c. 1820s)
North Wall, The Great Hall at Queen's

Above the fireplace in the Great Hall of the Lanyon Building hangs a copy of Titian’s The Death of St Peter the Martyr by James Atkins. Belfast-born Atkins (1799 – 1833) was sent to Italy by a group of patrons to study the masters in the 1820s, where he likely made this copy. Titian’s original painting, dating from 1529, was considered one of his finest, but it was tragically destroyed by fire in 1867.  It is only through magnificent copies such as Atkins’s that we can appreciate the work.