The Picture Gallery, a noble apartment of admirable proportions, has a coved ceiling, rising from a cornice richly ornamented in gold and white, with figures and foliage in bold relief. The collection of pictures in this gallery, some two hundred in number, is remarkably fine and choice, and contains many notable examples of the best and most reputed masters—Murillo, Rubens, Teniers, Gerard Douw, Rembrandt, Claude, Gaspar Poussin, Parmigiano, Carlo Dolce, Berghem, Carracci, Guido, Vandyke, Holbein, Bassano, Paul Veronese, Bronzino, Van der Heyden, Netscher, Van der Velde, Reynolds, Jansen, Ruysdael, Correggio, Albert Dürer, Dekker, Schalken, Spagnoletto, Caravaggio, Wouvermans, Cuyp, and a host of others.
The Grand Corridor, or Ball-room.
The Duchess’s Boudoir, a lovely room, commanding an almost enchanting view of the grounds and distant country, was the favourite apartment of the late duchess, and remains as left by her. Like the other private rooms, passages, and corridors, it contains many genuine pictures of note as well as family portraits.
The Grand Corridor, or Ball-room, which, seen from the landing of the staircase, is shown in the engraving on the preceding page, is one of the most striking features of the interior of the castle. It is of Gothic design, the whole being of stone, and copied from various parts of Lincoln Cathedral. It is lit by nine windows in length, with stained-glass armorial decorations, and has an elegant groined ceiling, with carved bosses at the intersections; and the walls are arcaded, and contain full-length life-size and other portraits of the present noble duke (two) by Grant; the late Lady John Manners, by Buckner; Lord Robert Manners, by Reynolds; and several others.
The Queen’s Sitting-room, or Green Assembling-room, in the Staunton Tower, besides being an elegant apartment, commands a magnificent view of the charming grounds and the distant country, including Croxton with the Duke’s Deer Park, Woolsthorpe, Harlaxton, the Kennels, and the Lake. Adjoining this are the Chinese Rooms—a suite of bed and dressing rooms, so called from the style of their furniture and papering—which were occupied by our beloved Queen in 1843.
The Grand Dining-room has a richly panelled ceiling of white and gold, and contains a side-table of white marble, carved by Wyatt, so as to look like a table “covered with a white linen table napkin; the folds being so accurately represented in the marble as to require a close inspection to convince the observer of the solidity of the material.” It weighs between two and three tons. In this room are magnificent examples, life-size full-length portraits, by Sir Joshua Reynolds, and others by Sir Godfrey Kneller.
The Elizabeth Saloon, so called after the late duchess (Elizabeth, second daughter of Frederick Howard, Earl of Carlisle, and wife of John Henry, fifth Duke of Rutland), by whose taste and judgment it was arranged and decorated. The walls are hung with satin drapery, and the ceiling, which was painted by Wyatt, is filled with mythological subjects and family and other portraits. The furniture and appliances are sumptuous and elegant, and altogether this saloon is the most gorgeous in the castle. Among its Art treasures are a full-length marble statue of the late duchess by Wyatt; two full-length life-size portraits of the late duke and duchess by Sanders; several rare enamels and pictures; a number of choice watercolour drawings; an extensive series of cabinet portraits, &c.; and many cabinets, caskets, and other choice objects.
Other apartments are the King’s Rooms, so called because used by the Prince Regent while at Belvoir; the Hunters’ Dining-room; the Wellington Rooms, so named because occupied by the Duke of Wellington; the Family Dining-room, &c., but these require no word of comment.
The Chapel, with panelled stone walls and elegant groined ceiling, has a canopied reredos, containing one of Murillo’s grandest and choicest works—the “Holy Family,” whose value is estimated at four thousand guineas.