I finally was able to visit the Painted Hall at the Old Royal Naval College at Greenwich, and egads! it was an amazing experience. First you see the towering architectural buildings designed by the great Sir Christopher Wren and Nicholas Hawksmoor in 1698:
I looked up to see the intertwined initials of Queen Anne and George, and William and Mary in the stunning vestibule.
James Thornhill began to paint The Painted Hall in 1708 and it took him nineteen years to paint the whole thing! I’m super impressed by both his talent and the amount of detail involved in his work. His use of tromp l’oeil was superb. There is a huge amount of symbolism and allusion to classical mythology throughout the building – it was amazing.
This next image reminded me strongly of the Antonio Verrio paintings in the King’s Staircase at Hampton Court Palace:
The highlight, of course, was to see William and Mary immortalised by James Thornhill’s painting with my naked eye. I have had a copy of this painting on my desk for over three years and it was quite moving to look up and see the real thing.
Now, the gorgeous painting on the far wall is something I’ve wanted to see since I first saw it in the 2000 film, Quills.
A close-up shot of the figures in the middle reveal them to be Queen Anne and her husband, Prince George of Denmark.
I thought the Americans would be interested in looking at this memorial plaque from WWII:
I then walked down into the King William Undercroft and down this long passage, which connects one of the buildings to the other, ending up in the Queen Mary Undercroft.
Back up via the Chapel, I was back outside, where I wanted to show you some of the impressive architecture in a bit more detail:
Thanks for joining me! I bid you all good day!
<3, Andrea, the Seventeenth Century Lady x
Beautiful Andrea! I’ve always wanted to go inside. Now I’ve seen it!
Ooops! Boatbuilders fingers are not designed for these gismos ! I meant to rate five stars and hit 4 it warrants 6 in my estimation.
Hello, following your exploits is fun, and I will be in London Sept 7,8,9 then off to TENBY to see a family Casle along the way at DINFWR…..The Ancient Rhys family runs in my veins and I did not know until recently that the family was near the center of Political LIfe of the nation from1200 onto the present time….imagine my suprise as the son of a Nebraska USA livestok breeder and land speculator? It’s far more than can be rationally absorbed….My pedigree includes some names I cannot say outloud, well because it’s too outrageous and lovely folk would think I am batty and gone over the edge….We’ll leave at that M. Beaufort is connected on both side of this RICE clan. CHEERS!
Beautiful. Thank you so much for doing this.
I must apologise about my typing: some days I don’t see the errors until they are posted, and that’s because my sight is failing; hope you are forgiving! : – )