Greenwich Painted Hall & Chapel (Greater London

My visit to Greenwich in London, happened in 3 sections: As soon as I moved to London I went to the Royal Observatory and Park; then again I went to visit the Cutty Sark and Maritime Museum; towards the end of my stay, again I went there to check out the Chapel and Painted Hall! Till I moved out, I never got to see the Queen’s House which was throughout under renovation (it is open now!). Reason - All of it is under UNESCO!

The painted room is a part of the Old Royal Naval College. Originally it was built as a hospital for the seamen! It was designed by Christopher Wren, and built between in 1696-1712 CE. However by 1869 it ceased to be a hospital and by 1875, it became the college!

The most important feature of the entire hospital is ofcourse the painted ceiling, made by Sir James Thornhill between 1708 and 1727. The entire painted area covers a whopping 40,000 sq ft.

The entire painted area is in 2 sections - the long corridor or lower hall and the upper hall with its wall. The central painting of the long corridor depicts ‘Triumph of Peace and Liberty over Tyranny’. It shows King William and Queen Mary and tyranny is shown to be crushed at the foot of King Willaim! Also depicted all around them are the personification of 4 season, 12 zodiac signs, cardinal virtues and rivers.

Also depicted are mythological characters including Zeus, Medusa, Hercules etc. 4 astonomers also made it to this list incl Tycho Brahe, Copernicus, Thomas Weston with John Flamstead (in the order of the above 3 pics).

The ceiling of the upper hall depicts Queen Anne and her consort Prince George of Denmark surrounded by personification of America, Asia, Europe and Africa in the 4 directions! Also depicted are Heroic virtue, liberality, piety etc.

The wall shows George I at the centre of a large family group portrait. The painting shows his grandson Frederick and son George depicted beside him, surrounded by personification of peace, plenty, music etc. Ofcourse the portrait is missing his wife! King George I’s marriage with his wife Sophia Dorothea dissolved in a series of unfortunate events and she was imprisoned for 32 years till her death. But is she there in the pic? There’s a faint hand painted near the fringes of the carpet near the foot of the king!!! Find it!!! Btw, at the right bottom corner is Sir James Thornhill himself turning and looking at us!

After getting totally mesmerized by this, I set off to my next place – the Chapel. It’s a Neo Classical (Greek Revival) masterpiece. This was built in 1751. It was destroyed in a fire in 1779 and this current Chapel was built in 1760s. Originally this was the chapel attached to the hospital meant for the seamen!

The ceiling of the chapel is a visual treat. Completely gilded in gold, it looks apt for a palace!!! The woodwork is not just stunning, but is responsible for the acoustics. Its all plaster work and not wood. However the mezzanine flooring and rails are woodwork and much more detailed. When I went, there was a Medieval chant that was running on CD and it echoed all over the church!!!

At the altar is a fresco and bang opposite to it is the organ. This is a work of Samuel Green of mid 18th C CE. From here I also headed to the Ranger’s House which is also within the UNESCO protected zone. However no photography was allowed there!

To Get There:

Nearest railway station: Cutty Sark (DLR)

Entry prices: Free at both places.

Recently Painted Hall ceiling tours have been introduced to see the see the paintings up & close at 60ft height! This tour is priced at £10.00

Can be bought online on their website.

Greenwich Painted Hall & Chapel (Greater London - England)

Trending Articles

Practice Sheet of Right form of verbs for HSC Students

Download: FK ft Shenky – Nakuyewa ”Prod by: Shenky”

How to win at Markstrat (Markstrat Tips and Tricks) – Vodites

Ominde Commission Report and Recommendations – Ominde Report of 1964

Bureau of Internal Revenue: Regional Offices (Directory)

GO 53 on Enhancement of Ex-gratia upto 5 Lakhs Toddy Tappers in Telangana

Cakewalk CA-2A Leveling Amplifier v2.0.1.97 WiN, v2.0.1.96 OSX Incl Keygen

Mp3 Download: Mdu - Kunjenjenjena

How the kill the job , when DTP request running for long hours.

Microsoft Intune から展開しているアプリのアップデートについて

18-year-old girl was beaten for half an hour by two Northampton men in 'an...

Car crash in Dunton Bassett leaves driver in critical condition

Macky 2, Two Others In Road Accident

Application log 00000000000000089514: Could not convert queue DLVST90CLNT

Detroit mafia: D’Anna Brothers agree to plea deal

Delivery block field greyed out using VA02

Muloraki Au

【個人撮影】スマホのプライベート映像♪「中に出さないで///」カラオケ屋での生ハメ撮りが流出ｗ【リベンジポルノ】＠PornHub

BREAKING NEWS: Diamond Platnumz Is Reported Dead After Ghastly Car Accident

FIAT 500 B0111 B0112