The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 13, No. 352, January 17, 1829Various
History
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 13, No. 352, January 17, 1829
Various
Popular literature -- Great Britain -- Periodicals
On entering the edifice by the large door in front, a staircase on the
right leads to a passage, which communicates with a circular saloon hung
with coloured drapery. This room, which, when finished, will be the
largest of the kind in London, occupies the whole internal space, or the
basement of the building, with the exception of the staircase leading to
the summit, which rises like a large column from the centre. This
circular saloon is intended for the exhibition of paintings and other
productions of the fine arts; and it redounds highly to the credit of
Mr. Hornor, that this exhibition is to be entirely free of charge to the
artists. Such an introduction of their works to public notice cannot
fail to prove mutually advantageous.
It may be here necessary to state that the wall of the building
represents a panoramic _View of London_, as seen from the several
galleries of St. Paul's Cathedral--and that the view of the picture is
obtained from three galleries--the _first_ of which corresponds, in
relation to the view, with the first gallery at the summit of the dome
of St. Paul's; the _second_ is like that of the upper gallery on the
same edifice; and the _third_, from its great elevation, commands a view
of the remote distance which describes the horizon in the painting.
Above the last-mentioned gallery is placed the identical copper ball
which for so many years occupied the summit of St. Paul's; and above it
is a fac-simile of the cross by which it was surmounted. Over these is
hung the small wooden cabin in which Mr. Hornor made his drawings for
the picture, in the same perilous situation it occupied during the
period of the repairs which some years ago were done to the cathedral. A
small flight of stairs leads from this spot to the open gallery which
surrounds the top of the Colosseum, commanding a view of the Regent's
Park and the subjacent country.
The communication with the galleries is by staircases of curious
construction, built on the outer side of the central column already
mentioned. This column is hollow, and within it a small circular chamber
is to be caused to ascend when freighted with company, by means of
machinery, with an imperceptible motion to the first gallery. The doors
of the chamber will then open, and by this novel means of being
elevated, visiters may avoid the fatigue of ascending by the stairs, and
then walk out into the gallery to enjoy the picture.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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