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File:Design for the west wall (first project) RMG L9873.jpg

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Author
James Thornhill  (1675–1734)  wikidata:Q1681192
 
James Thornhill
Description British painter, politician and court painter
Date of birth/death 25 July 1675 Edit this at Wikidata 13 May 1734
Location of birth/death Malcombe Regis (Dorset) Thornhill Park near Stalbridge, Dorset
Work location
London, Greenwich, various English country estates
Authority file
creator QS:P170,Q1681192
Description
English: Design for the west wall (first project)

The title given above for this preliminary design for the west wall is inscribed in a 20th-century hand along the bottom. Michael Robinson has also noted on the mount: 'Drawn after the death of George, Prince of Denmark in 1708 and before 1714', with a note of the paper as 'Watermark IV (I Villedary)'. The setting is a deep, rusticated, vertical rectangular opening, with a curtain drawn back upper right by putti, and a cartouche with the letters 'AR' (Anna Regina) with lion and unicorn supporters.

Up the lower steps Queen Anne sits enthroned on the left under a canopy, receiving an architectural plan (possibly of St Alphege in Greenwich, which was destroyed in a gale in 1710 and rebuilt under the New Churches Act of 1711) from two figures, one with a staff of office and both apparently wearing the Star of the Garter. One of them is probably Sir William Gifford, who was appointed a governor of Greenwich Hospital in 1708. This is watched by an assembly of men of science, right. The centre arch of an arcade behind gives onto a prospect of warships at sea and what may be the front of St Paul's Cathedral to the right. A female figure of Fame hovers above with a trumpet. At the top a reclining female figure and putti are apparently painted on the ceiling in false perspective. A scale of six feet, at 3/8 inch: 1 ft is indicated lower right. The tall, narrow format indicates that it must predate the decision to block the side windows. The west wall of the Upper Hall was built with windows across its full breadt, the central of which the mason contractor Edward Strong blocked on the inside in 1713 creating a surface available for painting. In 1718, the flanking windows were also blocked (at Thornhill's request) so that the entire west wall could be painted.

An alternative Queen Anne design for the West wall is in the Huntington Library collection, HL 63-52-265.

Full design for the upper end of the Painted Hall, Greenwich Hospital
Date circa 1708
date QS:P571,+1708-14-00T00:00:00Z/10,P1480,Q5727902
Dimensions Sheet: 460 x 337 mm; Mount: 836 mm x 605 mm
Notes Box Title: 9. Miscellaneous.
Source/Photographer http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/149607
Permission
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The original artefact or artwork has been assessed as public domain by age, and faithful reproductions of the two dimensional work are also public domain. No permission is required for reuse for any purpose.

The text of this image record has been derived from the Royal Museums Greenwich catalogue and image metadata. Individual data and facts such as date, author and title are not copyrightable, but reuse of longer descriptive text from the catalogue may not be considered fair use. Reuse of the text must be attributed to the "National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London" and a Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-SA-3.0 license may apply if not rewritten. Refer to Royal Museums Greenwich copyright.
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Identifier
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id number: PAH9660
Collection
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Fine art

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current10:51, 26 September 2017Thumbnail for version as of 10:51, 26 September 2017954 × 1,280 (1.3 MB)Fæ (talk | contribs)Royal Museums Greenwich Fine art (1708), http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/149607 #3449

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