London in 1710, from the travels of Zacharias Conrad von Uffenbach This palace has three courtyards, of which the
two first are tolerably large, but with poor old buildings. They are not unlike an
ancient Oxford college, although a great deal is
made of them in the Délices d' Angleterre, where they say
that two kings might well be lodged in these quadrangles. The back courtyard was
built by King William III in brick; it is
square and not very large, with small buildings. In it are
several yews and a
fountain. Behind this courtyard is the great garden, semi-circular in form; it is
flat and consists entirely of gazons, though there are some elegant statues of metal
and alabaster, of which one, representing a gladiatorem, is matchless. They say that
it formerly stood in the park in London. To the
right of the house is another large garden divided into two parts. In it are the
orangeries—that is to say, two large and one smaller one with numbers of handsome
plants, among which we saw two flourishing aloes twenty-four years old. They had,
indeed, a tolerable quantity of yellow blossoms, but, since they lacked sufficient
care and warmth, the stem was barely two ells high. In the smaller garden opposite
the water is a small building called the banquetin or summer-house, under which
there is a pheasantry. On the left hand of the main building is another section of
menageries, consisting entirely of hedges and paths, star-shaped, with several walks
meeting at a single point. On both sides are two mazes, one in the form of a circle
and the other of a triangle. This was the largest and best. We saw in the garden
various wooden rollers made of thick trunks of oak, which are used to roll the lawns
when they have been mown. After we had seen enough of the garden we went into the
house and first looked at the staircase, so elegantly painted by Vario with all manner of tales from Roman history.
The anteroom for the guards was ornamented with arms like that at Windsor.
Then we came to several rooms tolerably, though scarce
magnificently, furnished, many of them having elegant
studies of flowers over the
doors.
We also observed a special kind of barometer and thermometer in the form of a
clock, which are made by TomsonTompion.[*]Von
Uffenbach evidently meant to write Tompion, 1638-1713; see earlier note.
Tomson
Tompion
the London
watchmaker worked fifty years later.
In King William's apartment there were
two cupboards full of miniatures and carvings, and above some books.
On the walls hung two excellent pen-and-ink sketches of Marly and Meudon.
We were also shown several lacquered block-houses, which are said to be a present from the Great Mogul.
Then we were taken into the so-called Hall of Triumph, because in it hang nine great paintings
representing the triumph of Julius Caesar, with
the words: Veni, vidi, vici. They were painted by
Julio Romano, Andrea Mantegna or Montagnia, with matchless elegance and tolerable delicacy of execution,
especially as far as the garments are concerned.
Opening out of this room is the
gallery in which hang the seven famous paintings of
Raphael Urbino. They consist entirely of Bible stories from the Acts of
the Apostles. On the second picture is the following inscription: P. Sergius Paulus
Asiae Pro
Cos.
Christianam fidem
amplectitur
Pauli praedicatione.
The woman who
was showing us round assured us that the King of
France once offered thrice a
hundred thousand pounds sterling for these seven paintings.
Next we walked through
some rooms which are not yet finished. On the ceiling of one of them was a painting
of the Queen.
In the last was a great painting
of the antlers of a stag, below which the following words were to be read:
Le vray Portrait du Cerf dans le Chateau d'Amboise en France.
Lequel a onze pieds de hauteur & neuf de largeur & cinq pieds & demy
d'Espace entre les deux branches.
Downstairs we saw two small rooms with about sixty
superbly fine paintings. Among them were several excellent
perspective-pieces and also a vastly elegant and well-painted picture of Christ and St
John as two small children.
There was also an incomparable night-scene on
the door. They say that these paintings were collected by King William.
After this we were taken into a room of moderate
size in which are to be seen paintings of the nine so-called Beauties of England or Dames of Queen Mary. They are all done life-size but are remarkable neither for
beauty of appearance nor for the execution of the artist. Madame
Kent is the best of all.
When we had seen all the sights of the palace we
went to get a meal and then drove in the afternoon to RICHMONTRichmond, which lies on a fairly high hill in truly agreeable country by
the Thames, though the prospect from Hampstead is yet more charming. The spring, the
Assembly Room and other public rooms for those taking the waters lie rather low down
in the direction of the town and are most elegant buildings. The place itself is
tolerably pleasant. One can take one's diversion here, as in all such places and
medicinal springs in England, and the life is
fairly unconstrained. We remained here so long that we set off for London quite late in the evening in considerable
terror of being robbed. For the footpads know that people return to London very late from such places, so the roads are
very unsafe. It is no small scandal that in so mighty a realm and such a capital one
can feel no security even in the vicinity of the town. It is even the less to be wondered at since such robberies take
place at night in the town itself and even in
the neighbourhood of St James' Palace.