L9871-001

Drawing for the ceiling of the Painted Hall with key to figures on reverse Long Caption: An early design for the main Painted Hall ceiling, with the west end at the bottom. Many of the elements realised in the executed version are already present, if in a different form or position, though only William III appears in the centre (without Mary). Perhaps most significantly, other elements which appear here and were taken out, were apparently later incorporated in the design of the Upper Hall. These include the figures of the four Continents supporting the two side panels, which are now in the Upper Hall ceiling, while a figure with a pyramid (for the stability of dynasties) above William now appears behind the figure of George I in the west wall. Thornhill has also uses zodiacal annotations around the central oval to indicate where emblematic figures in fact appear in the ceiling itself. Credit line: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London Object: PAH4058 Artist: Sir James Thornhill Date: early 18th century Medium: pen; ink; wash Size: 495 mm x 249 mm Click here to buy a bespoke print of this image.