In 1686 when James II. was mis-ruling the land, he expended some £700
on repairing the chapel and in solemnizing high mass. In George III.'s
reign the chapel was made the Royal Mausoleum, and Princess Amelia
was the first to be interred in it. His wife, his sister, and six of
his children and grandchildren were buried in the vault before George
himself. There is room for forty-nine coffins, and already twenty-one
have been placed in it, the Duke of Clarence and Avondale having been
the last. Although the Prince Consort is buried at Frogmore, Wolsey's
Tomb-house was selected as the site for the magnificent memorial in his
honour. The interior of the chapel is lined with marble and mosaic,
the walls are covered with reliefs, the windows are of stained glass.
The cenotaph stands in front of the magnificent altar, and supports a
recumbent statue, a personification of the Christian soldier described
by St. Paul, of white marble, the face being a portrait of the Prince.
A hound, a portrait of the Prince's favourite dog Eos, sits at his
feet. This chapel, built by Henry III., and dedicated to St. Edward,
and later on, known as Wolsey's Tomb-House, remains now as the Albert
Memorial Chapel, one of the most splendid monuments of the age. In
the State Apartments there are many articles interesting on account
of antiquity or associations. The Malachite Vase in the Ball Room is
the best of its kind in England, the French tapestry is said to be
unequalled, the Sévres porcelain is exquisitely delicate and beautiful.
Many picture-frames, especially in the ante-room, are to be found,
the work of Grinling Gibbons. Portraits by Vandyck in his best style
abound, and there is a splendid series of portraits by Holbein. In the
Guard Chamber there is a shield presented by Francis I. to Henry VIII.
on the field of the Cloth of Gold, the work of Benvenuto Cellini.
The Library at Windsor is remarkably large and good, William IV. having
gathered here the various collections at Kew, Hampton Court, and
Kensington, and having brought to light many antiquarian treasures.
Amongst these are the three volumes of the collection of drawings of
Leonardo de Vinci, brought to England from Holland by Sir Peter Lely,
and bought by Charles II., and the series of eighty-seven studies in
red chalk and Indian ink of the principal personages of Henry VIII.'s
Court by Hans Holbein. The illuminated manuscripts, both European and
Oriental are of much historical interest, and amongst them may be
mentioned the "Mentz Psalter," of 1457, a copy of Coverdale's Bible of
1535, and the only perfect copy now in existence of Caxton's _Æsop's
Fables_ of 1484.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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