Castle Howard, Revisited

Castle Howard was designed by John Vanbrugh (1664-1726), who was a dramatist and stage designer in the Restoration Era. He collaborated with architect Nicholas Hawksmoor (1661-1736) on projects including Castle Howard and Blenheim Palace, creating an architectural sub-genre, English Baroque. Beginning in 1699, design and construction continued for about 25 years, though the final wing was not added until 1811.
    Below, the lordly gates, promising a spectacle beyond. The bountiful gardens are a suitable introduction to the main event.

       Above, as one wanders in the garden, you see glimpses of the high dome that crowns the house, and eventually the entire opulent structure comes into view.
   Below, left, the familiar sculpture of a boar, often seen around the world (we'll see another at Chatsworth soon) is a copy of the bronze Il Porcellino (the Piglet) fountain in Florence, Italy, which in turn is based on an ancient Greek original. Below, right, the view across the Atlas Fountain to the horizon. Please remember to click on the pictures for complete versions.

   Personally, I fell in love with Castle Howard when I watched the 1981 television series Brideshead  Revisited, based on the novel by Evelyn Waugh. Jeremy Irons (as Charles Ryder) and Anthony Andrews (as Sebastian Flyte) captured my admiration, as did other members of the stellar cast. The story has also been a feature film and another tv series. The house serves as a setting for many other filmed dramas including The Buccaneers, Death Comes to Pemberley, Victoria, and Bridgerton. Fees for its use have been used to restore many parts of the estate.
    Below, the halls and passages of the house are also galleries for the family's collection of ancient artifacts and more modern sculptures. Left, ancient copy of the head of Hermes; and right, William Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire (1790-1858), brother of Lady Georgiana Howard, Countess of Carlisle (1783-1858).   

Above left, Lion attacking a Bull, one of a marble pair, 1st century AD; right, passageway with antique busts.
   Below, the Great Hall. Left, the fireplace surround of scagliola, and right, facing it, the alcove with statue of Bacchus. The Italian workman in 1711-12 used a plaster-and-marble blend, an early version of the technique used frequently
in succeeding decorative schemes in England.

    Above, the underside of the dome over the Great Hall, 52-feet above the floor. This is a reproduction of the original by Antonio Pellegrini of The Fall of Phaeton, completed in 1712.  In 1940, while Castle Howard was in wartime use as a girl's school, a fire destroyed much of the house including the Great Hall and Dome. The present version was created by Scott Medd in 1961-62.  
    Below, left, the garden hall, rebuilt after the fire, with painted scenes of Castle Howard's follies and outbuildings, most of which were created by Vanbrugh and Hawksmoor; right, the New Library.  

Above, left, the Music Room. Right, the Dining Room with many landscapes including Harbor Basin of San Marco, Venice, by Bernardo Bellotto (1722-1780), nephew and student of Canaletto.
​    Below, another view of the Music Room; right, the Turquoise Drawing Room.

      Above, left, portrait of Lady Mary Howard, daughter of the 6th Earl of Carlisle, 1828, by artist John Jackson; right, the grand Palladian window in the Museum Room.
     Below, left, also in the Museum Room, another perfectly proportioned window and velvet ropes shelter a tall Delft Tulip Vase on a William Kent table of about 1735. Right, a room exhibiting costumes from various dramas filmed at Castle Howard.

      Above, two views of the Long Gallery, not completed until 1810. At 166 feet, it's said to be the longest gallery in an English house. Below, left, the great lake, and right, a distant view of Hawksmoor's Pyramid, one of the many quirky outbuildings on the estate.

Next, touring Chatsworth.