Part 8

"In this picture, which was painted in 1771, West introduced the sensible innovation of dressing the characters in their proper costume; previous to that time it was the common practice with painters to dress their figures in historical compositions of any kind, in the Greek or Roman costume. Sir Joshua Reynolds was one of those who were averse to the innovation, but when the picture was finished, he changed his opinion. After a careful examination of the picture, he observed to the Archbishop of York, who was with him at the time, 'West has conquered; he has treated his subject as it ought to be treated; I retract my objections. I foresee that this picture will not only become one of the most popular, but will occasion a revolution in the art.' When West related this to the King, he said, 'I wish I had known all this before, for the objection has been the means of Lord Grosvenor getting the picture, but you shall make a copy for me.'"

This is the copy ordered by George III., for which the painter received £315. The original is at Grosvenor House, and has been finely engraved by Woollett. There are several other repetitions of it.

81 Prince of Wales (George IV.), and Duke of York (_500_) . . . . . WEST.

The Prince is on the left, in yellow satin, his right hand on his hip, his left on his brother's shoulder, who leans against a table. They are both in the robes of the Garter and St. Andrew. On canvas, 9 ft. high, by 7 ft. wide.

The Prince of Wales was born on August 12th, 1762; Frederick, Duke of York, on August 16th, 1763. This picture represents them when they were about fifteen and fourteen years old, therefore, about 1777.

Soon afterwards the Duke of York proceeded to Prussia for the purpose of being educated as a soldier.

82 Dukes of Cumberland, Sussex, and Cambridge, and the Princesses Augusta-Sophia, Elizabeth, and Mary (_488_).

The Duke of Cumberland is on the left, standing; the Duke of Sussex is lying down near his sister Elizabeth, who holds on her lap the infant Princess Mary (?). Kneeling by them is the Duke of Cambridge, and behind is the Princess Augusta-Sophia. Signed and dated 1776. On canvas, 6 ft. 7 in. high, by 7 ft. 10 in. wide.

Prince Ernest Augustus, afterwards Duke of Cumberland and King of Hanover, and grandfather of her Royal Highness Princess Frederica, was born June 5th, 1771; Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex, on January 27th, 1773; and Prince Adolphus Frederick, Duke of Cambridge, on February 24th, 1774. Princess Augusta-Sophia was born on November 8th, 1768; Princess Elizabeth, on May 22nd, 1770; and Princess Mary, on April 25th, 1776.

The Princesses have long been wrongly called, Charlotte, Augusta, and Sophia; the correct names, as given above, are derived from the contemporary mezzotint by V. Green; besides, when this picture was painted the Princess Sophia was not born.

83 Queen Charlotte, aged 36, with her thirteen children in the background (_498_) . . . . . WEST.

Standing; dressed in white, her hair powdered and piled up high. The thirteen children are seen in the distance to the left, in a picture which is now at Windsor Castle. On canvas, 9 ft. 6 in. high, by 7 ft. wide.

84 George III.; Lords Amherst and Lothian behind (_494_) . . . . . WEST.

He is standing, facing to the right, in full regimentals. He holds a scroll of paper in his hands in front of him. Behind him is his crown and sceptre; and in the background the two peers, and a view of Coxheath Camp. On canvas, 9 ft. 6 in. high, by 7 ft. wide.

It appears from West's own memoranda that this picture was painted before 1779, consequently the King cannot have been more than forty.

85 Duke of Cambridge, and Princesses Charlotte and Augusta (_487_) . . . . . WEST.

The Duke, in a maroon-coloured suit, is standing on the right. Princess Charlotte is sitting on a stool, with her sister on her lap. In the background are a curtain, a column, and Kew Gardens with the Pagoda. Signed on the top in the left hand corner; and dated 1778. On canvas, 9 ft. high, by 6 ft. wide.

Princess Charlotte, George III.'s eldest daughter, afterwards Queen of Wirtemburg, was born on September 29th, 1766; and Princess Augusta, on November 8th, 1768. It is doubtful whether the names are correct.

86 =Apotheosis of the Infant Princes Octavius and Alfred= (_503_).

Alfred, the younger of the two, is seated on clouds, with his hands out-stretched to his brother, who is being conducted up to him by an angel.

Prince Octavius was born on February 23rd, 1779, and Prince Alfred on September 22nd, 1780. Alfred died on August 20th, 1782. "I am very sorry for Alfred," said the King, "but had it been Octavius I should have died too."

Octavius followed his brother to the grave on May 2nd, 1783. For this picture West received £315. Engraved by Sir Robert Strange.

87 =Queen Charlotte and the Princess Royal= (_492_) . . . . . WEST.

The Queen is sitting on a sofa, with embroidery on her lap. The Princess stands on the right, by her side, and holds the embroidery. Dated 1776. On canvas, 5 ft. 5 in. high, by 6 ft. 8 in. wide.

88 Duke of Clarence (William IV.), and Duke of Kent (_502_) . . . . . WEST.

The Duke of Clarence is on the left, dressed in a blue coat with a white vest; he has his right hand on a globe, his left on his hip. The Duke of Kent is in red turned full to the front, but looking at his brother; his right hand is on his brother's left hand, his left is pointing upwards. On canvas, 9 ft. 6 in. high, by 7 ft. wide.

Prince William Henry, Duke of Clarence, afterwards William IV., was born August 21st, 1765. Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, father of her present Most Gracious Majesty, was born November 2nd, 1767. This picture was painted when they were about thirteen and eleven years. In 1780, the Duke of Clarence went to sea as a midshipman. West received 250 guineas for the picture.

89 George III. Reviewing the Tenth Dragoons in Hyde Park in 1797 (_168_) . . . . . BEECHEY.

The King is in front on a white horse, whose head is turned to the left. He is in full regimentals, with a cocked hat. Just behind him is the Prince of Wales, in the uniform of the 10th, holding up his sword and giving the word of command. To the left of the King is the Duke of York, with Generals Goldsworthy and Sir David Dundas; Sir William Fawcett is standing in front of them. The King is turning round to speak to them, and points with his right hand to the cavalry charge in the left distance. On canvas, 13 ft. 8 in. high, by 16-1/2 ft. wide.

The 10th Light Dragoons (now the 10th Hussars) were frequently reviewed by George III. in company with the Prince of Wales, who entered the army as brevet-colonel, November 19th, 1782, and after whom the regiment was called "The Prince of Wales's Own," on Michaelmas Day, 1783. In 1793 he was appointed colonel-commandant of the corps, and succeeded as colonel on July 18th, 1796. The review commemorated here took place not long after that date, for the picture is mentioned in a biographical sketch of Sir William Beechey in _The London Monthly Mirror_ for July, 1798, where we are told that the King rewarded him for it with the honour of knighthood. The names of the officers were derived from an account of a review, which took place in 1799, and which this picture was formerly supposed to represent; it is therefore doubtful whether they are quite correct. (See _Notes and Queries_.)

This picture is regarded as Beechey's masterpiece, and was very much admired at the time. But "although a clever and showy group of portraits, it has little of real nature, and is full of the painter's artifices. Thus the King's white horse forms the principal light, and comes off the Prince of Wales's dark horse, and so on; the light and shadow of all the heads being the light and shadow of the studio, and not of the field."--(Redgrave's _Century of Painters_.) The King had several copies taken of it; in one, which he gave to Lord Sidmouth, the figure of the Prince was omitted by the King's own desire, a curious proof of his dislike of his son. When the Prince became King he hinted that it should be restored, but this was evaded. Benjamin Smith engraved the portrait of George III. from this picture.

=King's Privy Chamber.=

Although this room formed part of the state apartments built by Kent, it was much transformed in the reign of George III., so that it bears little trace of its original decoration. Indeed, it is so commonplace in appearance, that, except for the pictures which now hang on its walls, it looks more like an ordinary bedroom in an old-fashioned country inn than a king's chamber in a palace. The plain deal dado, the common chimney-piece of black veined marble, the wood and plaster cornice, the shutters and windows, are all of the most ordinary and inartistic pattern.

The dimensions of this room are 31 feet long, 24 feet wide, and 17 feet high.

=Portraits of the Time of George III.=

90 Portrait of Francis, 5th Duke of Bedford (_961_) . . . . . J. HOPPNER.

Full-length, turned to the left, looking to the front. He is dressed in a peer's full robes. His left hand is on his hip, his right holds a scroll of paper. He is bareheaded, face close-shaven, and his hair short. Behind him is a red curtain, and in the distance on the left a statue of Hercules. On canvas, 8 ft. 3 in. high, by 5 ft. 2 in. wide.

Behind is written:--"Received, 7th April, 1810, from Mrs. Hoppner." The duke, who was born in 1765, died on March 2nd, 1802.

"More dignified and well painted than the similar one at Woburn."--_Sir George Scharf._

91 Francis Hastings, Earl of Moira (_950_) . . . . . HOPPNER.

Full-length, figure slightly to the right, but the face turned round to the left. Dressed in uniform, with the Ribbon and Star of the Garter. His right hand holds a scroll of paper by his side; his left rests on a document on a table. Background, a green curtain, and sky on the right. On canvas, 7 ft. 10 in. high, by 4 ft. 10 in. wide.

Behind is painted "R.A. 1794," the year of Hoppner's election, and "The Star and Garter added 1812," in June of which year Lord Moira, after failing to form a ministry, accepted the Garter, "but," says Lord Spencer in a letter to Lord Buckingham, "whether as a calm to his honour or his understanding, it is not for me to say." This picture was received from Hoppner's widow, in June, 1810, a few months after his death.

92 Portrait of John Hely, Lord Hutchinson (_872_) . . . . . PHILLIPS, R.A.

Three-quarters length, seated, turned to the left, and looking downwards. His left leg is crossed over his right, and in his left hand he holds a map of Egypt; his right holds an eyeglass on his breast. He is in his uniform. In front of him on a table are writing materials. On canvas, 4 ft. high, by 3-1/2 ft. wide.

John Hely was born in 1757, and in 1774 went into the army. In the expedition to Egypt in 1801 he was appointed second in command to Sir Ralph Abercrombie; on whose death the chief command devolved on Hely, then a major-general. For his admirable conduct of the campaign, in which he drove the French from Egypt, he received the thanks of both Houses, and was raised to the peerage in 1813. In 1823 he succeeded his brother to the earldom of Donoughmore. He died in 1832.

93 Christian VII. of Denmark (_976_) . . . . . DANCE.

A head, in an oval, turned to the right; dressed in a red uniform trimmed with gold; on his breast a blue ribbon. His hair is powdered and brushed back.

This was formerly unnamed, but the mezzotint engraving after it by Fisher shows it to have been painted by Dance; doubtless when the King was over here in 1767 for his marriage to Princess Matilda. He was then eighteen years old.

Their domestic life was not happy. In politics he distinguished himself by granting liberty of the press to his subjects; in reward for which Voltaire addressed the famous lines to him, in which he tells him: "Je me jette à tes pieds au nom du genre humain."

He afterwards went out of his mind, and died in 1808.

He was the son of Princess Louisa, the daughter of George II., and succeeded to the throne in 1766. The engraving after this picture by G. Fisher is dated 1769.

94 Portrait of Richard Brinsley Sheridan (_891_) . . . . . K. A. HICKEL?

Bust; face turned slightly to the right. He has a blue coat and a yellow waistcoat. His face is close-shaven. On canvas, 2 ft. high, by 1 ft. 8 in wide.

"Whatever Sheridan has done, or chosen to do, has been _par excellence_ always the best of its kind. He has written the best comedy, the best farce, and the best address ('Monologue on Garrick'), and, to crown all, delivered the very best oration (the famous Begum speech) ever conceived or heard in this country."--_Byron._

This appears to be the study for, or a replica of, the head of Sheridan in the picture of the Interior of the old House of Commons in 1793, painted by Karl Anton Hickel, and now in the National Portrait Gallery.

95 Portrait of Spencer Perceval (_890_) . . . . . JOSEPH.

Half-length, turned to the left. In his left hand he holds a paper. He wears a blue coat and a white waistcoat. His face is shaven, his hair grey, and his head bald in front. On canvas, 2-1/2 ft. high, by 2 ft. wide.

Behind is written:--"Received from Mrs. Joseph, 18th June, 1814."

This is a posthumous likeness, taken from a mask after death, but considered by all who knew him to be a faithful resemblance. When Queen Charlotte went to see it, and the curtain which covered it was withdrawn, she was so struck with its truth, that she burst into tears. Many copies with slight variations were executed; one of them is now in the National Portrait Gallery. It is engraved in mezzotint by Turner. It is a fair specimen of George Francis Joseph, an indifferent artist, who was elected an associate of the Royal Academy after painting this portrait. He died in 1846.

Perceval, who became Prime Minister in October, 1809, was assassinated in the lobby of the House of Commons by Bellingham, on May 11th, 1812. The official documents he holds in his hand remind us that his state papers were not at all to the taste of the Prince Regent, who remarked, "that it was a great misfortune to Mr. Perceval to write in a style which would disgrace a respectable washerwoman."

96 Mary Granville, Mrs. Delany (_944_) . . . . . OPIE.

Bust, turned to the left. She is dressed in a black silk dress, trimmed with lace, and having a hood over her white widow's cap. Round her neck is a locket. On canvas, 2 ft. 6 in. high.

This portrait represents her as a very old woman, and was probably painted not many years before her death, in 1788, at the age of eighty-eight. She was the eldest daughter of Bernard Granville, grandson of Sir Bevil Granville, the Royalist leader, and was born in 1700. She was educated under the care of her uncle, Lord Lansdowne, and married in 1717 Alexander Pendarves. She was intimate with Swift, through whom she became acquainted with her second husband, Dr. Delany. After his death she spent most of her time with her friend, the Duchess of Portland, and when she died, George III., who, with the Queen, became very intimate with the old lady, gave her a pension and a house at Windsor. She occupied her declining years in copying flowers in paper, and executed as many as 980. She died in 1788. Her autobiography was published in 1861; it contains a great many reminiscences of the court and family of George III.

This picture first brought Opie into notice. A replica painted for the Countess of Bute is in the National Portrait Gallery.

97 Brownlow North, Bishop of Winchester (_888_) . . . . . _after_ DANCE.

Bust, nearly a full face, slightly inclined to the right. He is seated in a purple-covered chair, in the robes of a Chancellor of the Garter, with the chain of the order on his breast. On canvas, 2 ft. 8 in. high, by 2 ft. 2 in. wide.

He was a half-brother of Lord North, the Prime Minister; was born in 1741; and was successively appointed Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, Worcester and Winchester, and died in 1820.

98 Portrait of Hurd, Bishop of Worcester (_889_) . . . . . GAINSBOROUGH.

Bust, turned to the left, facing and looking in front. Dressed in a bishop's canonicals, with a small, but full, curly wig. Painted in an oval. On canvas, 2 ft. 6 in. high, by 2 ft. 1 in. wide. Compare No. 371.

99 Richard Hurd, Bishop of Worcester (_887_) . . . . . GAINSBOROUGH.

Bust, to the right, looking to the front His left hand is on his breast, holding his gown. Dressed in canonicals, with a bushy wig. On canvas, 2 ft. 6 in. high, by 2 ft. 1 in. wide.

He was the son of a farmer at Congreve, Staffordshire, and was born in 1720. He was appointed preceptor to the Prince of Wales and the Duke of York, and was nominated Bishop of Worcester in 1781; but declined the primacy offered by George III., with whom he was a great favourite. He wrote many moral and religious works, long since relegated to the limbo of insipid mediocrities. Engraved by Holl in 1774? Perhaps the picture exhibited in 1781.

100 A Rabbi (_266_) . . . . . _after Rembrandt, by_ GAINSBOROUGH.

Bust, to the right. He wears a dark dress, and cap with flaps; his beard is long. On canvas, 2 ft. 6 in. high, by 2 ft. 1 in. wide.

This was in Gainsborough's possession at his death, and was exhibited at Schomberg House, 1789.

101 Portrait of C. F. Abel, the Musician (_938_) . . . . . ROBINEAU.

Half-length; seated at a piano or spinet, turned towards the right, but his face looking behind him, over his shoulder to the left. He is dressed in a red coat and has a small wig. On canvas, 2 ft. 1 in. high, by 1 ft. 8 in. wide. Signed on the left-hand side:--"_C. Robineau 1780._"

Charles Frederick Abel was a pupil of Bach's, and at one time belonged to the royal band at Dresden. He came to England about 1765, and was appointed master of Queen Charlotte's band. Although he wrote music, he was more celebrated for his playing than his compositions. Abel was a very passionate man, and much addicted to the bottle,--peculiarities which the visitor would suspect him of, from his flushed face and red nose. He died in 1787, after being three days in a sort of drunken torpor.

Robineau was a portrait-painter who practised in Paris and London.

102 Duchess of Brunswick, Sister of George III . . . . . A. KAUFFMAN.

Full-length, turned to the right. She holds a child in her arms on an altar in front of her. She is dressed in white with an orange-coloured mantle, lined with light blue; she wears sandals. On canvas, 8 ft. 11 in. high, by 5 ft. 11 in. wide.

On the left at the foot of the column is the signature:--"_Angelica Pinx Aº_. 1767." To the left, on a vase, the inscription:--

_Carol._ ILLE _de Bruns. & Priñ. Hered_. A. MDCCLX M. _Jul. apud Enisdorff_ VICTORIA. _et_ A. MDCCLXIV M. _Jan. apud Lond._ AMORE. _Coron._

Augusta, the eldest daughter of Frederick, Prince of Wales, was born on the 31st of July, 1737, and was married to the Duke of Brunswick on the 17th of January, 1764. By him she became the mother, among other children, of Caroline, Princess of Wales, and of Duke William Frederick, "Brunswick's fated chieftain," who fell at Quatre-Bras. In 1767, when this portrait was painted, she was in England on a visit.

The child in her arms must be her eldest son Charles George Augustus, who was born 8th February, 1766, and died in 1806.

103. Frederick, Prince of Wales (_893_) . . . . . VANLOO?

Bust, turned to the left, facing in front. He wears a blue sash over his coat. See _ante_, No. 4.

104. George III., when Prince of Wales, aged 12, and Prince Edward Augustus, Duke of York and Albany, aged 11 . . . . . RICHARD WILSON, R.A.

Seated figures, on a couch by a table, the Prince of Wales on the left. On canvas, 3 feet 3-1/2 inches high, by 4 feet 1-1/2 inches wide. Lent by the trustees of the National Portrait Gallery.

The Duke of York was born in 1739, became an admiral in 1759, and died at Monaco in 1767.

=The Nursery.=

The designation of "The Nursery" has been for many years applied to this room, having, it appears, been so used at one time by Queen Victoria, whose doll-house is now placed here. It was afterwards occupied by the late Duchess of Teck, and it was here that Princess May, now Duchess of York, was born, on May 26th, 1867.

Its associations are, therefore, exclusively Victorian, with which its decoration--so far as it can be said to have any--accords. The "shell" of the room, however, is part of Kent's addition to the State Rooms.

The dimensions of this room are 30 feet 7 inches long by 23 feet 5 inches wide, and 17 feet high to the highest point of the ceiling, 15 feet 2 inches to the top of the cornice.

Pictures and Prints illustrative of the Queen's Life and Reign.

A collection is here being formed by Mr. Holmes, the Queen's Librarian, of various prints, illustrative of Her Majesty's Life and Reign. Among them are old prints of the Queen as a child, and as the young Princess Victoria, Heiress to the Throne; also of the marriage of the Prince of Wales in St. George's Chapel, the Baptism of the Princess Royal, etc.; and also the Jubilee Celebration of 1887 in Westminster Abbey, from the painting by W. E. Lockhart, R.S.A.

110 The Queen's First Council in the pillared Council Chamber at Kensington Palace on 20th of June, 1837 . . . . . _After_ WILKIE.

For an account of this famous scene, _see_ page 37.

=Ante-Room.=

As we go through the door of "The Nursery" into this ante-room, we pass from the portion of the Palace built by Kent, to the original block erected by Wren, this ante-room being a part of what was formerly one of William III.'s state rooms.

Through this lobby it was that the Queen passed to the adjoining staircase when she went downstairs to receive the news of her accession.

The dimensions of this room are: 19 feet 3 inches long, 10 feet 2 inches wide, and 16 feet high.

Prints illustrative of the Life and Reign of the Queen.

The wall space here will be devoted to further prints illustrative of the Queen's Life and Reign.

=Queen Victoria's Bedroom.=

To future ages, if not indeed already to the present one, this plain, modestly-decorated chamber must have an interest far transcending that of the more gorgeous Georgian saloons, which we have just traversed. For, it was for many years the bedroom of our own Queen, when as a little girl of tender age she lived in quiet simplicity at Kensington Palace with her mother, the Duchess of Kent.