Why see it?
Man, it’s grand
- It was this way that the King and his visitors would enter his State Apartments.
You’ll run into the King’s court in the stairwell
- The staircase walls and ceiling are painted with William Kent’s vivid, life-sized portrayals of George I’s court and its various characters.
The staircase paintings
William Kent’s take on the King’s court
William Kent’s vivid recreation of George I’s court – for which he received £500 – depicts a lively 18th-century court full of intriguing and unexpected characters.
Along with the Yeomen of the Guard, Kent’s painting includes the King’s Polish page Ulric, the King’s Turkish servants Mahomet and Mustapha, Peter ‘the wild boy’ – a feral child found in the woods in Germany – and a portrait of himself, with his mistress at his shoulder, looking down from the ceiling.
