London and Its Environs Described, vol. 6 (of 6): Containing an Account of Whatever is Most Remarkable for Grandeur, Elegance, Curiosity or Use, in the City and in the Country Twenty Miles Round ItAnonymous
History
London and Its Environs Described, vol. 6 (of 6): Containing an Account of Whatever is Most Remarkable for Grandeur, Elegance, Curiosity or Use, in the City and in the Country Twenty Miles Round It
Anonymous
London (England) -- Description and travel -- Early works to 1800; London (England) -- Gazetteers -- Early works to 1800
III. On entering the Queen’s audience chamber, you see the cieling
painted with Britannia in the person of Queen Catharine, in a carr
drawn by swans to the temple of Virtue, attended by Flora, Ceres,
Pomona, _&c._ with other decorations heightened with gold. The canopy
is of fine English velvet, set up by Queen Anne; and the tapestry
was made at Coblentz in Germany, and presented to King Henry VIII.
The pictures hung up in this room, are, a Magdalen by moonlight, by
Carracci; St. Stephen stoned, by Rotterman; and Judith and Holofernes,
by Guido Reni.
IV. On the cieling of the ball room King Charles II. is represented
giving freedom to Europe by the figures of Perseus and Andromeda; on
the shield of Perseus is inscribed _Perseus Britannicus_, and over
the head of Andromeda is wrote _Europa Liberata_, and Mars attended
by the celestial deities, offers the olive branch. On the coving of
this chamber is the story of Perseus and Andromeda, the four seasons,
and the signs of the Zodiac, the whole heightened with gold. The
tapestry, which was made at Brussels, and set up by King Charles II.
represents the seasons of the year; and the room is adorned with the
following pictures, the Roman Charity, after Tintoret; Duns Scotus, by
Spagnoletto; a Madona, by Titian; Fame, by Palmegiani, the Arts and
Sciences, also by Palmegiani; and Pan and Syrinx by Stanick.
V. The next room you enter is the Queen’s drawing room, where on the
cieling is painted the assembly of the gods and goddesses, the whole
intermixed with cupids, flowers, _&c._ and heightened with gold. The
room is hung with tapestry representing the twelve months of the year,
and adorned with the pictures of Lot and his daughters, after Angelo;
Lady Digby, wife of Sir Kenelm Digby, by Vandyke; a sleeping Venus, by
Poussin; a family in the character of Mark Anthony and Cleopatra, by de
Bray; a Spanish family, after Titian; and a flower piece by Varelst.
VI. In the Queen’s bed-chamber, the bed of state is rich flowered
velvet made in Spitalfields, by order of Queen Anne, and the tapestry,
which represents the harvest season, was also made at London, by
Poyntz. The cieling is painted with the story of Diana and Endymion,
and the room is adorned with the pictures of the Holy family, by
Raphael; Herod’s cruelty by Giulio Romano; and Judith and Holofernes,
by Guido.
VII. The next is the room of Beauties, so named from the portraits of
the most celebrated beauties in the reign of King Charles II. they are
fourteen in number, _viz._ Lady Ossory, the Duchess of Somerset, the
Duchess of Cleveland, Lady Gramont, the Countess of Northumberland, the
Duchess of Richmond, Lady Birons, Mrs. Middleton, Lady Denham and her
sister, Lady Rochester, Lady Sunderland, Mrs. Dawson, and Mrs. Knott.
These are all original paintings drawn to great perfection by Sir Peter
Lelly.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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