|
Date: |
|
Description: | A detailed perspective drawing of the interior of the Chapel of the Royal Naval Hospital (now Old Royal Naval College) in 1830, taken from beneath the pillared canopy supporting the organ loft, inside the west door. The right side of the composition is shaped as an oval and it is signed and dated, lower left: 'Scarlett Davis 1830'. On 5 July 2011 the Museum purchased at Christie's London 'Old Master and British Drawings' sale ( lot 121) what appears to be a matching image, since almost exactly the same size, showing the Naval Gallery in the Painted Hall from the vestibule: that is also signed and dated 1830 but has an additional element of wash. Davis was doing drawings of Greenwich at the time and even if not strictly a pair these two make one. He may have used a camera lucida, which might account for the oval form of the right edge here.
Thomas Ripley's original Chapel interior was remodelled during the 1780s by James 'Athenian' Stuart, following a disastrous fire of 1779. The new, richly decorated Chapel reopened on 20 September 1789. Benjamin West's altarpiece depicting the 'Shipwreck of St Paul on the Island of Melita' (Malta), still in situ, is clearly visible in Davis's drawing. [RC: amended PvdM 7/11]
Box Title: F size. Box 2. Drawings C-H. | Publisher: | "http://collections.rmg.co.uk/" | Subjects: | drawings | Source: | Royal Museums Greenwich | Identifier: | http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections... | Go to resource |
|
|