[This is the ninth in a series of articles describing some
of the most interesting and attractive places in London]
This piece describes two of the finest neo-classical
buildings in London, both with marvellous interiors. Curiously, in the 18th
century citizens and visitors complained that there were very few large public
buildings in London. It was in the 19th century that London became
full of galleries, museums, meeting halls and institutions. Previously, great
aristocratic families, especially ducal ones, had their large, private London
establishments and displayed their collections. One such was Edward Seymour,
Duke of Somerset, who built his Thames-side Somerset House in Tudor times but he fell foul of Edward VI and was
executed in 1552; his property was forfeit to the Crown. After 100 years of
royal use, it fell into disrepair and by the 18th century, the
monarch had no need of it, the old buildings were demolished and it was chosen
as the site for a large public building to house various institutions and
government offices.
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| Somerset House from the North |
The commission was given to the Swedish-Scottish architect William Chambers in 1776 and it is built
in the then fashionable Neo-Classical style. The original had a water-gate for
Thames barges but Embankment works in the 19th century closed that
link. Various learned societies were based there but they eventually outgrew
the space available; The Royal Academy, the Royal Society and the Society of
Antiquaries all moved in time to Burlington House, Piccadilly. Chambers’ North and South wings were
completed by Wyatt and in the 19th century the adjoining Kings
College, London occupied the East wing while the West Wing was completed by James Pennethorne in 1852.
The majority of Somerset House was given over to government
offices and in the 20th century it was a by-word for The Inland
Revenue, The Registrar of births, marriages and deaths, probate and stamp
offices. These were unromantic if essential tenants of this fine building and
with de-centralisation and reorganisations these offices slowly vacated. In
1989 London University was able to move its great Courtauld Collection from cramped Holborn premises to Somerset
House. Now many modern exhibitions are hosted there and there was a famed series
of loan exhibitions from The Hermitage, St Petersburg. There are medieval
paintings but it is strongest in the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist
schools, with Renoir, Cezanne, Degas, Manet, van Gogh and Seurat well
represented. The Collection of drawings and sculpture is also estimable.
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| Van Gogh: Self-Portrait |
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| Manet: The Bar at the Follies-Bergere |
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| The Fine Rooms at the Courtauld Galleries, Somerset House |
With Somerset House, London now
has yet another vibrant public building dispensing culture and amusement; the
quad outside provides a delightful walk amid its 55 fountains in summer and in
winter it is London’s favourite ice rink. All in all, a most civilised public
amenity.
The Banqueting House,
Whitehall, completed in 1622, is a lovely place and a landmark in English
architecture. It is all that remains of The Palace of Whitehall, a rambling
royal residence largely destroyed by fire in 1698. The House was not in fact
designed for banquets but for royal receptions and entertainments and for masques, the poetic entertainment of
which the Stuarts were particularly fond.
The building was designed by Inigo Jones, the prodigy who spent some
years in Italy studying the buildings of Palladio in Rome and the Veneto. He
returned to England and, with all the enthusiasm of a convert, erected the
first neo-Classical building in the country, not as a tentative experiment but
in the full flush of confident Palladianism. Note the elegant proportions, the
alternately shaped window pediments, the solemn Ionic and Corinthian pilasters,
the festoons and the striking balustrade.
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| The Banqueting House, Whitehall |
Charles I cherished the building and travelled to Europe to
find artists to embellish it. In 1635 the great Flemish master Peter Paul
Rubens was persuaded (a knighthood was part of the deal) to paint the ceiling
and his Apotheosis of James I (father
of Charles I) is the great treasure of the House. The Roundheads spitefully forced Charles to walk through the House before stepping outside to mount the scaffold for his own execution in 1649.
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| Rubens: Apotheosis of James I |
The House is now open to the public by day and in the evening
various receptions are held. I recall some years ago taking a table with lawyer
friends and our smartly-dressed wives to enjoy delicious fare, exchange City
gossip and hear baroque music from the galleries. Such exquisite pleasure!
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| Interior of the Banqueting House |
SMD
9.09.14
Text Copyright Sidney Donald 2014
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