Plate LXVIIb.
HAMPTON COURT PALACE.
CEILING OF CARDINAL WOLSEY'S CLOSET.
160.—Patera to a Ceiling at Hampton Court.
Another, though somewhat similar, type of ceiling is to be found in a little room called Cardinal Wolsey's Closet; but here the decoration is more general, and is founded more directly on the Italian manner (Plate [LXVII].). The ceiling is divided by wood ribs into rectilinear panels of small size and simple design; the intersections of the ribs are covered, in the manner already mentioned, with a plain wood boss and lead leaves bent down into the angles; each panel is filled with Italian decoration modelled in papier mâché; the whole is screwed up to the floor-joists above. The effect is very rich and elaborate. There is also a frieze on the wall which formed part of the design, although its precise relation to the ceiling can no longer be detected owing to modern alterations. The relation was probably something like what we see to-day (Plate [LXVII].), but a close scrutiny shows that the connecting links between the ceiling and the frieze have disappeared; there must have been some kind of moulded cornice. There can be little doubt that the spacing of the panels in the frieze was made to agree with those of the ceiling, and that it had a moulding of some importance at the top to connect it with the ceiling, and corresponding to the border which it still retains at the bottom, on which is painted repeatedly Wolsey's motto "Dominus mihi adjutor." The panels in the frieze are ornamented in a manner corresponding with the ceiling panels, which all contain either a rose or a fleur-de-lys, the devices of Henry VIII. This ceiling is of great interest, because it is one of the earliest of a highly decorated kind left to us—for the Tudor joiners placed little, if any, decoration in their panels; it is more Italian in manner than any other that survives, and it is formed of wood ribs and modelled filling, which were made elsewhere and then brought to the room to be fitted and fixed in position.
From the occurrence of Wolsey's motto in the frieze, it is probable that this work was done by him; it would consequently date prior to his death in 1530. Richardson, in his Architectural Remains of the Reigns of Elizabeth and James I., gives a large drawing of a ceiling in the Chapel Royal, St. James's, dated 1540, which is very similar in character to Wolsey's. It consists of small geometrical panels formed by wood ribs, enclosing rich designs in the Italian manner, among which the King's devices are constantly repeated, together with the date, the initials of Henry and Anne of Cleves, and such mottoes as "Vivat rex," "Stet diu felix." If the latter aspiration were fulfilled, it certainly was not in conjunction with the wife whose initials are on this ceiling that the wished-for happiness was attained, for she was divorced in July, 1540; and we therefore incidentally learn that the ceiling must have been put up in the first half of that year. In addition to the ornament already mentioned the King's arms frequently occur. The ribs in this case are broader than those at Hampton Court, and they are ornamented with a running pattern cast in lead.
161.—Part of the Ceiling in the Long Gallery, Haddon Hall, Derbyshire.