‘Best kept secret’: This Irish painter was a total BADASS back in the day

When we hear of the great masters of art, like Leonardo da Vinci or Manet, we rarely think of Irish painters.

But the works of a Cork painter, James Barry are the subject of a new book which has just won a prestigious art literature award. 

The 18th century artist begun painting in 1777, when he was 36 and he featured most of his famous work at the Royal Society of Arts in London. 

But before James agreed to paint murals on the arts society's walls, he insisted he receive full control over subject matter. 

The murals turned out to be highly personal to James, and he hid the true meaning from the Royal Society members. 

Basically (what made him a total badass at the time), the images were of a Catholic nature, and Mr Barry painted them when Catholicism was not exactly in favour in Britain. 

And if James was up front about his subject matter, he would have lost his commission and be banished from London immediately. 

The huge murals took him seven years to complete, and it was only a few years after his death in 1806 that other artists began to study the messages behind the paintings.