Thursday, August 21, 2014

Greenwich 3: The Queen's House

The Queen's House was our next objective at Greenwich.
In 1616 British architect Inigo Jones was commissioned to build the mansion. He had just returned from Italy where he'd been inspired by Palladio's classical style.
The front steps lead up to the reception hall with its beautiful marble floor. The house was used as a entertainment get-away by Queen Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles the 1st.
John took this shot from the second floor of the mansion. The Queen had apparently requested that Wren leave this open passageway between the two Royal Naval Hospital buildings so that she would have an unobstructed view of the Thames.
The building now hosts a fine collection of English paintings including works by Gainsborough and Reynolds.
We were also fascinated by their collection of naval war artist works. This is Stephen Bones' painting of the separation of officer and crewman areas in a S-class submarine (1945)
and Robert Austin's touching drawing of a nurse carefully removing stitches from the hand of a seaman who'd lost his fingers (1944).
The floors are connected by an elegant Tulip staircase
and the rear porch has a beautiful view of Greenwich Park.

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