On October 5th, accordingly, an order was made to the Board of Works to commission Sir J. Thornhill to do the gilding of the cornices.
On the barbarity of painting the beautiful oak work in this gallery, and especially the exquisitely carved oak architraves and cornices, we need not dwell. They remained painted until last autumn, when with infinite trouble and pains, the paint was cleaned off, and all the delicate chiselling of Gibbons and his assistants revealed to the eye, after being obscured for a hundred and seventy-four years. The visitor can judge for himself with what success this has been accomplished. No stain has been used in this restoration; and only after repeated experiments was the method adopted of treating it simply with wax polish.
The old panelling of Wren’s time was probably removed in the time of George II., in order to afford more wall-space for hanging pictures on—which was Queen Caroline’s great hobby.
An even worse barbarism was perpetrated in this superb gallery at the beginning of the century—when it was divided by partitions into three distinct rooms—in which state it remained until the restorations were begun last year. One of these subdivisions was used by Queen Victoria, when a little girl, for her toys.
Naval Pictures in the King’s Gallery.
IN this gallery have now been collected a large number of sea-pieces, sea-fights, dockyards, and admirals, mainly of the time of the Georges, to illustrate the history of the British Navy. Though but very few—for instance, those by Monamy and Scott—can be considered fine works of art, yet all of them will be found interesting and curious; and no one, who has known them only when hanging in bad lights on dark screens in the overcrowded rooms at Hampton Court, would have suspected how much there is to be studied in them, now that they are at length properly displayed.
201 The Dockyard at Sheerness (1055). . . . . R. Paton.
The dock is on the left, terminated by a fort in the centre of the picture. On the left are a large man-of-war and a disabled ship towed by a barque.
This and Nos. 204, 232, 233, and 236 are pieces of dockyards, painted by Paton more than a hundred years ago. They are each on canvas, 3 ft. 4 in. high, by 4 ft. 10 in. wide.