“These well-loved ancestral halls,
Begun in the year of English Freedom, 1688,
William Spencer, Duke of Devonshire, inherited in 1811,
And completed in the year of sorrow, 1840.”
The “year of sorrow,” so touchingly alluded to, being that of the death of the much-loved and highly-gifted Countess of Burlington, the wife of the present noble owner of Chatsworth. On the exterior of this grand hall, on the east side of the quadrangle, are some trophies of arms, &c., magnificently and boldly carved in alto-relievo in stone, by Watson.
The Bridge over the River Derwent, in the Park.
In this hall, of which our engraving gives but a sorry representation, the visitor is usually asked to remain for a short time, and to inscribe his name in the visitors’ book on the central table. From the centre of the south end of this noble room, the grand staircase leads up to the various suites of apartments on the library and state-room stories, and on either side of this staircase an open archway gives access to the “Grotto-Room,” the south corridor, and the apartments on the ground floor. From the corridor at the north end, the north stairs give access in like manner to the various apartments and to the north wing.
The Great Hall and Staircase.
The house is three stories in height, and these are known as the basement, the library, and the state-room stories. Through the extreme kindness and liberality of the noble Duke a part of each of these stories is, under proper regulations, permitted to be shown to visitors. It is not our intention to describe these various apartments in the order in which they are shown to visitors—for this would for many reasons be an inconvenient and unwise arrangement—but will speak of them according to the stories on which they occur. And first we take the upper, or state-room story, which, like the others, runs round the four sides of the quadrangle. The State-rooms and Sketch-Gallery occupy the south side; the grand staircase is at the south-east angle; the continuation of the gallery of old masters, the west stairs, and a number of bed-rooms, including the Sabine-room, occupy the west side; the north is taken up with bed-rooms, with the north staircase at the north-east angle; while on the east are “Mary Queen of Scots’ Rooms,” so called because occupying the same position as those used by her in the old mansion which was removed and rebuilt, and other suites of splendid sleeping apartments which of course are not shown to the visitor.
The Sketch-Gallery, which, as we have said, occupies the south and a part of the west side, contains perhaps the most choice and extensive collection of original drawings by the old masters in any private collection, embracing the Italian, French, Flemish, Venetian, Spanish, and other schools; and containing matchless examples of Raffaelle, Michael Angelo, Albert Dürer, Titian, Rembrandt, Rubens, Leonardo da Vinci, Poussin, Claude, Salvator Rosa, Correggio, Luca Signorelli, Andrea del Sarto, Lo Spagna, Giulio Romano, Caravaggio, Zucchero, Andrea Mantegna, Parmigiano, Giorgione, Giulio Campagnola, Paul Veronese, the Carracci, Guido Reni, Domenichino, Guercino, Holbein, Lucas Cranach, Lucas Van Leyden, Vandyke, Van der Velde, Jan Miel, and indeed of almost every well-known name. The collection was formed by the second Duke of Devonshire at considerable cost; the nucleus being purchased at Rotterdam. Among those by Michael Angelo are a study for the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel; some spirited studies of figures for the same ceiling; and a Virgin and Child. By Leonardo da Vinci a fine head of the Virgin. By Raffaelle are the sketch for the picture by Pinturicchio at Sienna, of “Æneas Silvius kissing the foot of Pope Eugenius IV. at the Council of Basle;” the figure of St. Paul for the cartoon of “The Sacrifice at Lystra;” “St. Catherine,” the original sketch for the picture now in the National Gallery; “the Virgin and Child;” “Joseph discovering himself to his Brethren;” and others. By Holbein, some of the finest known examples, including “the Fall of Phaeton,” “the Last Judgment,” “Hagar and Ishmael,” “Diana and Actæon,” and others. By Albert Dürer several fine examples. Altogether the collection is the most remarkable in any mansion.
