Milligan, KathrynKathrynMilligan2020-02-122020-02-122018 the A2019-07Journal of the History of Collections0954-6650http://hdl.handle.net/10197/11275In 1916, Sir Robert Henry Woods (1865–1938), eminent surgeon and Unionist Member of Parliament, presented two large-scale paintings by Walter Osborne (1859–1903) to the University Club, Dublin, now known as the Kildare Street and University Club. Drawing on new research, this article seeks to counter the long-standing suspicions surrounding the attribution of these works to Osborne, and through hitherto unused contemporary materials, outline the circumstances of their creation, the larger group to which they once belonged, and the story they tell about an ambitious artist seeking to further his career in Victorian Dublin. Further to this, the case of Osborne’s Venetian paintings illuminates a previously unexplored area of collecting in nineteenth-century Dublin, demonstrating the networks that existed between the city’s artistic and professional élites.enThis is a pre-copyedited, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in the Journal of the History of Collections following peer review. The definitive publisher-authenticated version Kathryn Milligan, A Venetian mystery: two paintings by Walter Osborne in the Kildare Street and University Club, Dublin, Journal of the History of Collections, Volume 31, Issue 2, July 2019, Pages 373–382 is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1093/jhc/fhy025PaintingsProvenanceOsborne, Walter F. (Walter Frederick), 1859-1903Journal Article31237338210.1093/jhc/fhy0252019-10-14https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ie/