Part 10

This, and Nos. 203, 209, and 231 pieces were painted by Dominic Serres, a native of Gascony, who, after running away from home, becoming a sailor, and then master of a trading vessel, and being captured by an English frigate, settled in England and took to painting marine pieces to earn a living. He was one of the original members of the Royal Academy, and frequently exhibited. He is to be distinguished from his son, J. T. Serres (see No. 225).

236 The Dockyard at Woolwich (_1066_) . . . . . [See No. 201.] R. PATON.

Woolwich church is seen in the centre background; the dock buildings are on the right.

237 Admiral Sir John Jennings (_11_) . . . . . _After Kneller by_ BOCKMAN.

Knighted by Queen Anne in 1704, died in 1743, and is buried in Westminster Abbey.

238 Admiral John Benbow . . . . . _After Kneller by_ BOCKMAN.

He was given the command of a ship by James, Duke of York, for his bravery. In 1702, when in command of the West India squadron, he sustained, almost alone, the fire of the whole French fleet under Du Casse; his cowardly officers, two of whom were afterwards tried by court-martial and shot, having basely deserted him. He died at Jamaica very soon afterwards from a wound received in the action.

239 Admiral George Churchill (_10_) . . . . . _After Kneller by_ BOCKMAN.

A brother of the Duke of Marlborough's. He died in 1708.

240 Admiral Sir G. Bing, Viscount Torrington (_7_) . . . . . _After Kneller by_ BOCKMAN.

The celebrated admiral of the reigns of Queen Anne and George I. He was especially distinguished for his services against the Pretender, and for his great victory over the Spanish off Sicily in 1718. His son was the famous Admiral Byng, who was shot, as Voltaire said, "pour encourager les autres."

241 Admiral Edward Russell, Earl of Orford (_27_) . . . . . SIR G. KNELLER.

Half length, to the right; in blue. His left hand is on his hip, his right has a bâton.

This is the famous admiral in the reign of William and Mary, who gained the victory of La Hogue against the French fleet under Tourville.

This portrait is one of the series of admirals painted for William III.

242 Portrait of General Spalken (_910_) . . . . . _unnamed._

Three-quarters in length. Bareheaded, with grey hair. His right arm rests on a table, on which is his cocked hat; his left is in his belt. He wears a general's uniform, a red coat with blue facings, a long white waistcoat with brass buttons, and white breeches.

I can find nothing about Spalken.

243 Admiral Sir Thomas Dilks (_9_) . . . . . _After Kneller by_ BOCKMAN.

This is the hero of a brilliant action in Cancalli Bay in 1703, when a small English squadron attacked a fleet of forty-three French merchantmen with three men-of-war, and captured them all.

244 Admiral Sir Stafford Fairbourne (_18_) . . . . . _After Kneller by_ BOCKMAN.

Lived in the reigns of William III. and Anne.

245 Admiral Sir John Gradin (_8_) . . . . . _After Kneller by_ BOCKMAN.

Served in the reign of Queen Anne, and was dismissed for over-caution.

246 Admiral Beaumont (_1_) . . . . . _After Dahl by_ BOCKMAN.

He perished on the Goodwin Sands in the great storm "such as of late o'er pale Britannia passed," in 1703.

=King's Grand Staircase.=

Sir Christopher Wren was the original builder of this staircase, although Kent's name has usually alone been associated with it. To the great architect, however, we certainly owe the "shell" of the building, its proportions, the black marble steps, the black and white chequered marble on the landings, and the fine balustrade of wrought iron. This ironwork was doubtless designed by Jean Tijou, whose name we have found in the contemporary accounts relating to this palace, and in whose style the design certainly is. As to the stair-treads, it is worthy of note that in an estimate of Wren's for the completion of the King's Great Staircase at Hampton Court, in 1699, he proposed that they should be made "of Irish stone such as are at Kensington, but longer and easier," which, in fact, they are.

In King William's time the windows must have been of a different type to those now here, which are in the style of Kent. As to the walls, they were then probably painted with simple ornaments. Among the Kensington accounts for the year 1692, we have found the following record of a payment relating to such work:

"To Robt. Streeter, Serg^{t} Painter, for japanning, gilding and painting several Roomes and Lodgings in the said Pallace, painting severall staircase, and the Guard Chamber, and other places in and about the said Pallace--£3,599."

Kent's Alterations in the King's Grand Staircase.

Kent's improvements, which must have been carried out about 1725, included--besides the painting of the walls and ceiling--the alteration of the approach to the staircase on the ground floor, where he inserted, in the area or "well," an arcade of two plain arches, which support, or rather appear to support, the landing above. Under the first arch begins the wide flight of black marble steps, with two landings in the ascent, paved with alternate squares of black and white marble, as is also the long top landing or balcony. The balusters are now painted blue, their original colour, found under successive coats of more recent paint. The hand-rail of oak has had its dirty paint cleaned off.

No one who did not see this staircase before the restorations were begun can conceive the woeful state of dust, filth, decay and rot which it then presented. With the fine iron balusters broken, damp oozing from the walls, the paintings indistinguishable from incrustations of smoke, and strips of the painted canvas hanging from the walls in shreds--it seemed impossible that it could ever be restored to its pristine splendour. The visitor must judge for himself whether this result has not been triumphantly accomplished.

The Painted Walls of the King's Grand Staircase.

Opposite the balustrade, on the right side as one goes down the stairs, is a low wainscot of plain moulded panelling; and above this, level with the top of the second landing, is painted a large Vitruvian scroll. The square space thus formed beside the first landing, and the spandril space beside the rise of the stairs, are filled with representations, in chiaro-oscuro, of sea-horses, armorial trophies and other devices, and scroll-work, heightened by gilding. These, as well as similar paintings on the arcade, opposite and under the stairs, show that Kent's taste and skill as a decorative artist were by no means contemptible, whereas as a painter of subjects or figures he was no artist at all.

The two walls of the staircase above the Vitruvian scroll are painted to represent a gallery, behind a colonnade of the Scamozzian Ionic order, supporting a corresponding entablature, with a frieze embellished with unicorns' heads, masks of lions, and festoons of foliage, divided by fleurs-de-lys, richly heightened with gold. Between these columns is painted a balustrade; with numerous figures of personages of George I.'s court, looking over it.

In =the first and second compartments= on the left are yeomen of the guard and various ladies and gentlemen; and a young man in a Polish dress representing a certain Mr. Ulric, a page of the King's, "and admired by the court," says Pyne, "for the elegance and beauty of his person;" while the youth standing on the plinth outside the balcony is a page of Lady Suffolk's. In the third or right-hand compartment on the same wall are seen, among many other unidentified persons, a Quaker and an old man in spectacles.

Two other servants of the court appear in this group, Mahomet and Mustapha, who were taken prisoners by the Imperialists in Hungary. At the raising of the siege of Vienna in 1685, George I., then elector of Hanover, was wounded, and was attended by these two Turks, who had been retained in his service, and who were said to have saved his life. Mahomet apostatized from the faith of his fathers and became a Christian; married a Hanoverian woman and had several children. King George, on his accession to the British throne, brought these two faithful servants with him to England in his suite. They were constantly about his person, and were credited with obtaining large sums of money from persons who purchased their influence to obtain places about the court. Mahomet, however, in whatever way he may have obtained his wealth, made a noble and benevolent use of it; for among many other recorded acts of benevolence, he released from prison about three hundred poor debtors by paying their harsh creditors.

Pope, at any rate, believed in Mahomet's integrity, for he mentions him in his Epistle to Martha Blount in these lines:

"From peer or bishop 'tis no easy thing To draw the man who loves his God or King. Alas! I copy (or, my draught would fail,) From honest Mahomet or plain Parson Hale."

Mahomet died of dropsy in 1726, just after these walls were painted. Mustapha, after the death of George I., continued in the service of his successor, and is supposed to have died in Hanover.

In the same group are also a Highlander, and a youth known as "Peter the Wild Boy." He was found in the woods of Hamelin, near Hanover, in 1725, and when first discovered was walking on his hands and feet, climbing trees with the agility of a squirrel, and feeding upon grass and moss of trees. He was supposed to be about thirteen years of age. He was presented to George I., then in Hanover, when at dinner, and the King made him taste of the different dishes at table. We get this information from Pyne, who adds:

"He was sent over to England in April, 1726, and once more brought before his Majesty and many of the nobility. He could not speak, and scarcely appeared to have any idea of things, but was pleased with the ticking of a watch, the splendid dresses of the King and princess, and endeavoured to put on his own hand a glove that was given to him by her royal highness. He was dressed in gaudy habiliments, but at first disliked this confinement, and much difficulty was found in making him lie on a bed: he, however, soon walked upright, and often sat for his picture. He was at first entrusted to the care of the philosophical Dr. Arbuthnot, who had him baptized Peter; but notwithstanding all the doctor's pains, he was unable to bring him to the use of speech, or to the pronunciation of words.... He resisted all instruction, and existed on a pension allowed in succession by the three sovereigns in whose reigns he lived. He resided latterly at a farmer's near Berkhampstead in Hertfordshire, till February, 1785, where he died, at the supposed age of nearly ninety."

The =east wall= of the staircase is painted as far as the width of the second landing with a continuation of the arcade, showing a fourth compartment, in which are again figures of yeomen of the guard and ladies--one holding an infant in her arms over the balustrade. Further up, on the same wall, is painted a pedimented niche, with a figure of a Roman emperor; and higher up still, on the top landing or balcony, are figures of Hercules, Diana, Apollo, and Minerva.

All these paintings are on canvas, stretched on battens fixed to the wall.

Painted Ceiling of the King's Grand Staircase.

The ceiling of the staircase being square and flat, it did not afford much scope for the exercise of imaginative design, and Kent was obliged to content himself with a very commonplace pattern--sufficiently apparent in the accompanying plate. In the four corners are a sort of double oblong panels, with similar square ones intervening between them. The ground colour is gray. The oblongs are painted with ornamental scroll-work and horses' heads, the squares with human heads. These panels are bordered with very heavy projecting frames of plaster work, white and gilt, as is also the great square compartment in the middle. The panel of this last is painted with a representation of a circle, within which are four semicircular spaces or apertures, apparently intended to portray a pierced dome with galleries--but they are all in quite impossible perspective. In three of these spaces are seen musicians playing on various instruments, and spectators looking down upon the company below. In the fourth "the painter," says Pyne, "has introduced his own portrait, holding a palette and pencils, with two of his pupils, who assisted him in the decoration of the walls, and a female of a very pleasing countenance, which is supposed to be a resemblance of an actress with whom he lived in the habits of peculiar friendship, and to whom he left a part of his fortune."

All these decorations--including "the female of a very pleasing countenance"--the visitor can make out, if he thinks it worth while to incur a stiff neck in doing so; but, in truth, the figures, as well as the perspective, are all so badly drawn and painted, that the less they are examined the better. They prove to us once more that Kent, as a pictorial artist, was beneath contempt. If, however, we are content to look on his paintings on this staircase as mere formless colour decoration, the general effect is rich and sumptuous enough.

The paintings of the staircase were finished, as we have said, about 1726. Three years after we find among the records the following warrant:

"For the delivery of the following for the King's service at Kensington, viz. for the Great Staircase 6 lanthorns, 12 inches square and 17 high, with a shade over each, an iron scroll and 2 flat sockets for candles, 1 lanthorn for a pattern 11 inches square and 19-1/2 inches high, with scrolls, etc."

Our illustration, taken from Pyne's drawing dated 1818, shows these lanthorns still in it. Except for these, which disappeared a long time ago, and the tall German stove, which was only removed a few months ago, the staircase appears exactly the same to-day.

=Presence Chamber.=

In this room we have a blending of the style of Wren, who originally built and designed it, and of Kent, who redecorated it for George I. The chimney-piece and over-mantel, with its fine Gibbons carving of foliage, fruit, and flowers, the beautifully designed and richly carved oak cornice and the panelled dado are Wren's; whereas the painted ceiling and the doors are Kent's. It was, doubtless, he also who altered the spacing of the window sashes, and substituted the present ugly large panes for the originally picturesque small ones. There is record of this being done in 1723, among the old accounts.

The walls appear originally to have been entirely lined, like most of Wren's rooms, with oak wainscot, but this had entirely disappeared long before the beginning of this century, when they were covered with tapestry, over which were nailed a great quantity of pictures--among them several which have now been brought back here from Hampton Court. At the same period, in 1818, there was still hanging between the windows "a looking-glass of large dimensions, tastefully decorated with festoons of flowers, painted with great truth and spirit by Jean Baptiste Monnoyer.... Queen Mary sat by the painter during the greatest part of the time he was employed in painting it."

This looking-glass has disappeared. =Gibbons' fine carving=, however, over the chimney-piece, of foliage, fruit, and flowers in lime wood fortunately remains. When recently cleaned and repaired, it was found to be so fragile and friable as to necessitate its being all painted over in order to hold the fragments together. An oaken colour, "flatted," in accord with the prevailing tone of the panelling in the room was thought most suitable.

The two windows of this room, the sashes of which were altered by Kent, look into a small courtyard.

The dimensions of the room are 27 feet 4 inches long, 26 feet 10 inches wide, by 16 feet 4 inches high to the top of the cornice, 18 feet to the highest part of the ceiling.

We presume it to have been in this room that William III. in May, 1698, received the Count de Bonde, Ambassador Extraordinary from the Court of Sweden, when he returned to the King the insignia of the Order of the Garter, which had belonged to Charles XI., King of Sweden. "The Sovereign assembled the Knights Companions upon this occasion in the Presence Chamber, and all appeared in their mantles, caps, and feathers, attended by the officers of the order in their mantles, and the heralds in their coats."

Painted Ceiling of the Presence Chamber.

The ceiling of this room, like most of those in the state apartments built by Wren, is "coved" or "saucer-domed," and was no doubt originally quite plainly-coloured, with a light cream-tinted wash. As we see it now, it gives the idea of an attempt by Kent to imitate Raphael's Loggie in the Vatican. The paintings have been stated to be in imitation of those "then recently discovered on the ruined walls of Herculaneum and Pompeii," but these were not unearthed until twenty-five years after. Kent has, however, carefully followed what indications he could get of the decorative treatment of Roman classic art. The colours are bright-reds and blues, enriched with gilding on a white ground. The ceiling, or rather the plaster behind the cornice, bears the date, 1724. Faulkner, in his "History of Kensington," considers that "a proof of his liberal zeal for the interest of his profession is clearly evinced by his adopting this antique ornament rather than his own historical compositions." Why this should be the case, however, he does not deign to explain.

Ceremonial Pictures of the Queen's Reign.

In this room are arranged the ceremonial pictures of the reign of the Queen, copied from well-known pictures by British artists. They afford most accurate representations of the events depicted, and no doubt will live to remotest history, as interesting and curious specimens of early Victorian art. The scenes, and the participants in them are all too well known to require explanation. Perhaps later on the numbered "key-plans" will be put up to assist in the identification of each personage.

271 Coronation of the Queen in Westminster Abbey, June 28th, 1838. Her Majesty taking the Sacrament . . . . . _After_ C. R. LESLIE, R.A.

When the Queen had been formally invested with the insignia of her sovereignty, and had received the homage of the peers, she laid aside the crown and sceptre, and following the Archbishop, advanced to the altar to receive the sacrament.

272 Marriage of the Queen and Prince Albert at the Chapel Royal, St. James's, 10th February, 1840 . . . . . _After_ HAYTER.

273 Christening of the Princess Royal at Buckingham Palace, 10th February, 1841 . . . . . _After_ C. R. LESLIE, R.A.

274 Marriage of the Princess Royal to Prince Frederick William of Prussia in the Chapel Royal, St. James's, 25th January, 1858 . . . . . _After_ J. PHILLIP, R.A.

275 Christening of the Prince of Wales in St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, 28th of January, 1842 . . . . . _After_ HAYTER.

276 Marriage of the Prince of Wales and the Princess Alexandra of Denmark in St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, 10th March, 1863 . . . . . _After_ W. P. FRITH, R.A.

277 A Sketch of the Queen leaving Westminster Abbey after her Coronation . . . . . _By_ CAMILLE ROQUEPLAN.

Camille Roqueplan was a French artist sent over by Louis Philippe to make sketches at the Queen's Coronation.

278 The Marriage of H.R.H. the Duke of Connaught and Strathearn and H.R.H. Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia in St. George's Chapel, Windsor, 13th March, 1879 . . . . . _After_ SIDNEY P. HALL.

CHISWICK PRESS:--CHARLES WHITTINGHAM AND CO. TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE, LONDON.

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Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber:

William Talman, Comptroler=> William Talman, Comptroller {pg 18}

his exernal architectural effect=> his external architectural effect {pg 63}

being situate=> being situated {pg 68}

his face his shaven=> his face is shaven {pg 91}

Prince Octavious was born on February 23rd, 1779=> Prince Octavius was born on February 23rd, 1779 {pg 106}