DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1213#0139
HAMPTON COURT. Ill
with their costly appurtenances and gems ot arts, and the
extensive pleasure gardens, are freely thrown open to the
public on every day except Friday, so that the excursions
to Hampton Palace are of more frequent occurrence than
to any other royal demesne in the neighbourhood of
London, except Greenwich. Of the treasures of art which
here abound, space will not allow us generally to speak;
we must confine ourselves to a brief notice of the cele-
brated Cartoons, by Raphael, of which seven decorate the
walls of Hampton Court. In his interesting work,
Rambles by Rivers, Mr. James Thome relates, that when
Leo X. ascended the pontifical chair he determined to
complete the adornments of the papal chapel, by filling
the vacant spaces on the walls with magnificent pictures
worked in tapestry, and heightened by gold. Raphael
was the artist engaged, and he produced eleven designs,
of which the following are at Hampton Court:—The Death
of Ananias; Elymas the Sorcerer struck with Blindness;
St. Paul and St. Peter at the Beautiful Gate; the Mira-
culous Draught of Pishes; Paul and Barnabas at Lystra;
Paul Preaching at Athens; and Christ's Charge to Peter.
The four missing are, The Coronation of the Virgin; The
Conversion of St. Paul; The Stoning of St. Stephen, and
The Deliverance of Paul from Prison. They were painted
in 1514, and in 1515 were cut up into strips and sent
into Flanders to be copied in tapestry by the workmen of
Arras. The tapestries were finished and sent to Rome,
but the designs remained unnoticed and neglected in
Flanders. By Rubens Charles I. was persuaded to pur-
chase them as designs for the tapestry-works which he
had founded at Mortlake. When the royal effects were
sold, Cromwell purchased the cartoons for the nation,
giving £.300 for them. In the reign of Charles II. they
were again sent to Mortlake to be copied on tapestry-
work, and that done they were thrown aside as lumber.
By William III- they were collected and restored, and the
gallery in which they are now placed erected for them by
Sir Christopher Wren. In 1766 they were removed to
with their costly appurtenances and gems ot arts, and the
extensive pleasure gardens, are freely thrown open to the
public on every day except Friday, so that the excursions
to Hampton Palace are of more frequent occurrence than
to any other royal demesne in the neighbourhood of
London, except Greenwich. Of the treasures of art which
here abound, space will not allow us generally to speak;
we must confine ourselves to a brief notice of the cele-
brated Cartoons, by Raphael, of which seven decorate the
walls of Hampton Court. In his interesting work,
Rambles by Rivers, Mr. James Thome relates, that when
Leo X. ascended the pontifical chair he determined to
complete the adornments of the papal chapel, by filling
the vacant spaces on the walls with magnificent pictures
worked in tapestry, and heightened by gold. Raphael
was the artist engaged, and he produced eleven designs,
of which the following are at Hampton Court:—The Death
of Ananias; Elymas the Sorcerer struck with Blindness;
St. Paul and St. Peter at the Beautiful Gate; the Mira-
culous Draught of Pishes; Paul and Barnabas at Lystra;
Paul Preaching at Athens; and Christ's Charge to Peter.
The four missing are, The Coronation of the Virgin; The
Conversion of St. Paul; The Stoning of St. Stephen, and
The Deliverance of Paul from Prison. They were painted
in 1514, and in 1515 were cut up into strips and sent
into Flanders to be copied in tapestry by the workmen of
Arras. The tapestries were finished and sent to Rome,
but the designs remained unnoticed and neglected in
Flanders. By Rubens Charles I. was persuaded to pur-
chase them as designs for the tapestry-works which he
had founded at Mortlake. When the royal effects were
sold, Cromwell purchased the cartoons for the nation,
giving £.300 for them. In the reign of Charles II. they
were again sent to Mortlake to be copied on tapestry-
work, and that done they were thrown aside as lumber.
By William III- they were collected and restored, and the
gallery in which they are now placed erected for them by
Sir Christopher Wren. In 1766 they were removed to