Amelia Curran

Amelia Curran (1775 – 1847) was an Irish painter active in Dublin and Rome, known for her friendship with Percy and Mary Shelley.

Early life Curran was born in 1775 in either Dublin or Cork to John Philpot Curran, a politician and lawyer, and Sarah Curran . The eldest of nine siblings, Curran was the elder sister of the musician, poet and composer Sarah Curran.

Gertrude (her father's favorite daughter) was buried in the grounds of the house and Curran's father spend hours watching her grave from his window; he also withdraw affection from his other children and her parent's marriage deteriorated. In 1795, Curran's father threw her mother, pregnant following an affair with The Rev Michael Sandys, out of the family home and forbade her from contacting their children; Curran took over the running of the family home.

Career

Curran also painted a portrait of Claire Clairmont and made copies of several Renaissance Madonnas. During the same spring of 1819 when painting William Shelley, Curran received Percy and Mary Shelley for individual portraits along with Clairmont. Curran had known Mary and Claire since childhood, when she had accompanied her father on visits to their father and step-father, William Godwin, in London.

Personal life On 30 August 1847, Curran died in Rome. She was cremated and buried at the Sant'Isidoro a Capo le Case; the future Cardinal Newman presided at her funeral Mass. A memorial plaque for her was later commissioned by Valentine Lawless, 2nd Baron Cloncurry, which was subsequently placed in the church.