Charles Wild (1781-1835)
The Royal Chapel, Windsor Castle c.1818
Pencil and watercolour with touches of bodycolour | 20.5 x 25.2 cm (sheet of paper) | RCIN 922113
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A watercolour view of the interior of the Royal Chapel before the significant alterations made by Jeffry Wyatville, with trompe l'oeil decoration and twisted Baroque columns framing the altarpiece of the Last Supper, a fresco ceiling of the Resurrection and Choir stalls facing on either side. Prepared for one of the plates in William Henry Pyne's History of the Royal Residences (1816-1819). Engraved by T. Sutherland, the print was published on 1 June 1818.
The entry in John Evelyn's diary for 3 September 1685 records his great pleasure at a visit to St George's Hall, Windsor Castle. It had been completed only the previous year. This, and the adjoining space, the King's Chapel, were designed to be the most impressive and important spaces in the new State Apartments recast by Hugh May. From 1675 to 1684, Verrio painted 12 rooms and three staircases in the King's State Apartment, and six rooms and the Great Stairs in the Queen's State Apartment. The iconographic programme, common to decorative shemes commissioned for most continental European baroque palaces, uncompromisingly celebrated the quasi-divine status of the prince or monarch. At Windsor, Verrio went further and placed Charles II himself as the great saviour.
Text adapted from Charles II: Art & Power, London, 2017Provenance
Probably acquired by George IV
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Creator(s)
Acquirer(s)
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Medium and techniques
Pencil and watercolour with touches of bodycolour
Measurements
20.5 x 25.2 cm (sheet of paper)
Other number(s)
RL 22113