Warwickshire: The Land of Shakespeare

by Clive Holland

Although the Gilt or Green Drawing–Room is of less magnificent proportions, it is notable for its fine plaster ceiling and the graceful and appropriate ornamentation of the walls; the wainscotting of which in one place masks a secret passage and staircase, used in former days as a means of escape and also for communication with the floor below. In this chamber are some of the greatest art treasures of the castle, including three oval portraits of the sons of Robert, Lord Brooke, who was killed during the Civil War; a fine half–length Van Dyck of the Earl of Strafford in armour; a Charles II.; a cavalier in armour, with red scarf and baton, by Van Dyck; a charming “Portrait of a Lady,” by Lely; and a notable Rubens, a portrait of Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Order of Jesuits, clad in a scarlet chasuble. This latter picture was originally painted for the Jesuit College at Antwerp, and found its way to England at the time of the French Revolution, when it was purchased by the second Earl of Warwick. There is also an excellent Cornelis Janssens, Robert Bertie, Earl of Lindsey, who commanded the Royal forces at the battle of Edgehill, where he was mortally wounded and taken prisoner by the Parliamentarians. And a couple of good examples of the work of Dahl; William, Lord Brooke and Mary, Lady Brooke.

Out of this interesting chamber opens the State Bedroom, from the casements of which are some of the most exquisite views seen from the castle. Below these windows the ancient cedars spread out feathery branches, and the river flows tranquilly by, till it ripples over the Weir, bordered in many places by magnificent elms centuries old. The “State bed,” which is of salmon–coloured damask, with coverings of satin richly embroidered with crimson velvet, was formerly the property of Queen Anne, as was also much of the furniture. It was given to the second Earl of Warwick by King George III. In the room is a magnificent piece of tapestry, depicting the garden of a medieval palace, thought to be Versailles, which was made in Brussels in the early years of the seventeenth century; whilst another interesting relic is the leather–covered travelling trunk of Queen Anne, on which are her initials “A. R.” under a crown.

The Boudoir itself, a comparatively small and rather narrow room, is, however, made charming by reason of the magnificent views of the river and park which are obtained from its windows. In it are hung some fine examples of the work of Rubens, Holbein the younger, and Lely, as well as a good Teniers.

The Armoury passage, a narrow corridor running at the back of the gilt drawing–room, State bedroom, and boudoir, and connecting the latter and the compass room, contains one of the finest private collections of medieval armour and weapons in England, as well as quite a number of portraits by Van Dyck, Sir G. Hayter, and others of inferior merit. Amongst the former is a portrait of Christ, said to be one of several painted from a likeness engraved on an emerald presented to Pope Innocent VIII. by the Grand Turk. Amongst the examples of armour are battle–axes, crossbows, calivers, pikes, arquebuses, daggers, swords, etc. of almost every period of the Middle Ages; and a fine and almost unique suit of chain–mail, of which each link has its separate rivet.

The Compass Room is a small polygonal antechamber communicating with the gilt room. The principal window contains painted Flemish glass of considerable merit. In this room are some magnificent pictures, including Murillo’s famous “Laughing Boy,” and a saint by the same artist; a fine head of an old man by Rubens; a Bacchanalian Group, by the same; a good portrait of Maximilian, the first Emperor of Germany, and his sister, by Lucas Cranach; and the two scriptural pictures, St. Paul Lighting a Fire (Isle of Melita), and St. Paul Shaking off the Viper, both by Rubens.

The chapel has a beautiful window of old painted glass, given by the Earl of Essex in the middle of the eighteenth century; and in the west window is a headless statuette of a Palmer, thought to be a representation of Guy, Earl of Warwick, in pilgrim’s garb.

In the Great Dining–Room, built by Francis, first Earl of Warwick, about the year 1770, are hung some fine pictures, including the famous equestrian portrait of Charles I. by Van Dyck.

The library, which was unhappily destroyed by the fire of 1871, was restored from designs of Mr. G. Fox. The ceiling is panelled and gilded, and there is some beautiful Italian work in the sides of the doors, and a Venetian hooded–marble chimney–piece is of most graceful design.

The Shakespeare room, originally a laundry, which adjoins Cæsar’s Tower, contains, as its name implies, the unique collection of Shakespearian memorials. There are good portraits of Queen Elizabeth; Robert Earl of Leicester; John Locke the historian; Oliver Cromwell; Sir Philip Sidney; and a Shakespeare supposed to be by Cornelis Janssens. The room also contains a magnificent piece of furniture, known as the Kenilworth Buffet, which was constructed out of an oak tree formerly growing in the grounds of Kenilworth Castle. The central panel depicts “Queen Elizabeth’s entry into Kenilworth Castle;” and the other panels scenes from Sir Walter Scott’s novel Kenilworth, with figures of Shakespeare, Sir Philip Sidney, Sir Walter Raleigh, and Sir Francis Drake. The Buffet was presented to the Earl and Countess of Warwick on their marriage.