THE first and last portraits of internationally celebrated poet Seamus Heaney have been displayed together to mark the second anniversary of his death.
The two paintings were unveiled together yesterday at the Ulster Museum.
The first commissioned portrait of Heaney was painted by Dublin artist Edward McGuire in 1974, when the poet was 34.
It now hangs beside Colin Davidson's 'Portrait of Seamus Heaney', completed just months before the poet's death on August 30 2013.
Mr Davidson said it had been a "privilege" to paint Heaney's portrait.
"I'd met Seamus for the first time in 1989, had known his work and had known the Edward McGuire painting a long time," he said.
"I went to school across the road and used to come over at lunchtime and see it, I was very absorbed by the McGuire portrait.
"What was lovely was that I got the opportunity to let Seamus see the painting and I have a photograph of Seamus with the painting, which is a very special thing to have.
"It's a real privilege that the painting is hung beside, what is for me an iconic piece, something I grew up with.
"It's quite remarkable, I can't lay claim to this, but Seamus in both paintings is looking directly out at us, the light just so happens in both of them to be coming from the left.
"So the two sit quite comfortably side by side and you are able to, in a way that I didn't plan or even thought about it ever hanging beside the McGuire piece, are able to compare the face because it's a very similar view."
Anne Stewart, curator of fine art at the Ulster Museum, said: "The Edward McGuire has been in the collection since 1974 so in many ways, it was the iconic image of Heaney, certainly in his early career.
"So it's really exciting to have the last portrait, Colin's wonderful, enigmatic, powerful last portrait, and we have never seen them together.
"Hanging them together, you are looking back and forward, from youth, energy to contemplative old age, so it's a wonderful dialogue between the two paintings.
"You've got the same face, but the wealth of experience 40 years later."
Kim Mawhinney, head of art at National Museums NI, said it was "deeply poignant to see these two paintings hang beside each other and consider how much this one man achieved and the impact he made on literature and on society between the time these portraits were painted".
The paintings are on display at the Ulster Museum until February. Admission is free.
