The Boudoir is a lovely little room, forming the extreme west end of the suite of rooms. The ceiling is enriched with the family crest and coronets, and there are among the paintings a portrait of Henry VIII. by Holbein;[33] of the Duchess of Cleveland, Barbara Villiers, by Lely; “A Dead Christ,” by Carracci; “A Boar Hunt,” by Rubens; “Martin Luther,” by Holbein; “A Sketch of the Evangelists,” by Rubens; and examples of Gerard Dow, Teniers, Salvator Rosa, Hayter, Vandyck, Holbein (Anne Boleyn and Mary Boleyn being especially interesting), Andrea del Sarto, &c., &c.
The Compass-Room contains many fine old paintings and much among its articles of vertu that will interest the visitor. In—
The Chapel Passage, too, are highly interesting paintings; and in the Chapel are some stained glass and interesting local relics.
The Great Dining-Room, built by Francis, Earl of Warwick, is a noble room, decorated with some fine antique busts and paintings. Among the latter will be specially noticed portraits of “Sir Philip Sidney,” considered the best in existence, and bearing in the corner the words, “The Original of Sir Philip Sidney;” “Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester;” “Frederick, Prince of Wales;” “The Princess of Wales and George III. when an Infant;” and many family portraits. At the east end is the celebrated “Kenilworth Buffet,” manufactured by Cookes of Warwick, from an oak-tree on the Kenilworth estate, and representing in its panels various incidents connected with Queen Elizabeth’s visit to that venerable pile, and presented to the present earl, on his marriage, by the town and county of Warwick.
The Castle, from the Outer Court.
The private apartments of the Castle consist of a remarkably elegant suite of rooms, which are, of course, not shown to visitors. Of these, therefore, only a few words need be said. The Armoury Passage and the Armoury contain a rare assemblage of arms and armour of various ages and descriptions, and many antiquities and “curiosities,” as well as mineralogical, geological, and other collections of great interest. In the Billiard-Room, the Oak Sitting-Room, the Earl’s Room, and all the remaining apartments, are many remarkably fine paintings.
Throughout the state apartments, as well as the private rooms, is distributed a marvellous collection of treasures of art—“superb garde-robes, encoigneurs, cabinets, and tables of buhl and marqueterie of the most costly finish; splendid cups, flasks, and vases in ormolu, crystal, china, and lava; Etruscan vases, marble and pietra dura tables; bronzes and busts displaying the utmost efforts of art; costly bijouteries, and rare antiques;” more especially a large collection of Limousin enamels are among the treasures which meet the eye at every turn in the interior of Warwick Castle.
It will be readily understood that the prospect from any of the windows is singularly beautiful; so beautiful, indeed, that if the stately castle lacked all other interest, a look over these grand woods, a fair stream consecrated by the bard of Avon, richly cultivated gardens, and rare trees of prodigious size, would amply compensate the visitor.
In the grounds are many charming objects and delicious spots, concerning some of which the visitor, naturally, will desire information. Of these, Cæsar’s Tower is one of the most sadly interesting, from the fact that beneath it is a dark and damp dungeon, in which many a sad heart has died out in solitude. On the walls are some touching inscriptions and rude carvings done by the miserable beings who have been incarcerated there. Among these the following is specially curious:—