Holkham : an English treasure house and its landscape. / txt
- 367 p. : ill. ; col. ; chart ; facsimiles ; table ; maps ; plans ; portraits ; 30 cm. book
Includes bibliographical references (pages 359-360) and index.
Departments: 6 Family Tree and Coat of Arms -- 8 Foreword -- 11 Introduction -- 17 Chapter 1: Thomas Coke, Earl of Leicester – The Builder of Holkham -- 51 Chapter 2: The Holkham landscape -- 109 Chapter 3: The Architecture -- 189 Chapter 4: The Rooms and the Collections -- 291 Chapter 5: Living at Holkham -- 327 Chapter 6: Holkham – Past, Present and Future -- 356 Plates Picture Credits -- 357 Acknowledgements -- 358 Authors and Contributors -- 359 Selected Bibliography -- 361 Index Illustrations : Fig.1. The Earl of Leicester in the Long Library -- Fig.2. The Triumphal Arch , erected 1745-48 , marks the southern entrance to Holkham Park and the beginning of the long approach to the Hall 10 -- Fig. 3. Emulating the architecture of ancient Rome , the Marble Hall is designed to welcome and to impress the visitor 15 -- Fig.4. Sir Edward Coke (1551/52-1634), the founder of the family’s fortunes, was Attorney General under Queen Elizabeth and Chief Justice of the Common Please under King James I. Painting at Holkham by Marcus Gheeraerts 19 -- Fig.5. and 6. Edward Coke (1676-1707) and his wife Cary (1680-1707) both died quite young but left five small children behind ; among them Thomas , the eldest , who was to build Holkham Hall . Paintings at Holkham by Michael Dahl 20 -- Fig.7. Thomas Coke (1697-1759) , the builder of Holkham , was raised to the peerage in 1728 as Baron Lovell of Minister Lovell and became Earl of Leicester in 1744 . As he had no male heir , his titles lapsed with his death . Painting T Holkham by Francesco Trevisani 21 -- Fig.8. Thomas William Coke (1754-1842) , grandson of Thomas’s sister Anne , inherited Holkham in 1776 . He gained fame as a politician and agricultural reformer and is widely known as ‘ Coke of Norfolk .’ In 1837 the earldom of Leicester was recreated for him . Painting at Holkham by Pompeo Batoni 22 -- Fig.9 and 10. Anne Coke , Thomas Coke’s sister , and Phillip Roberts. Much to the family’s distress , in 1715 sixteen-year-old Anne eloped with Phillip , then a young cornet of he Life Guards . But all the earls of Leicester of the second creation descend from her and Phillip through their son Wenman Roberts ( who changed his name to Coke in 1750) and their grandson Thomas William 23 -- Fig.11. Lady Margaret Tufton (1700-1775) , daughter of the sixth Earl of Thanet , married Thomas Coke on his return from his Grand Tour in 1718 . Following his death in 1759) , she completed the building of the house. As their only son Edward had predeceased his parents , the estate then passed to Thomas’s nephew Wenman Roberts Coke . Painting at Holkham by Sir Godfrey Kneller 23 -- Fig.12. Edward Coke (1719-1753) with his mother , Lady Margaret . Painting at Holkham by Jonathan Richardson 24 -- Fig.13 The married couple’s London residence, Thannet House in Great Russell Street , as it looked in Thomas Coke’s time. The sculptures, paintings and other treasures bought by Coke on his Gran Tour were kept there for many years before at least some of them could be moved to the new house at Holkham 24 -- Fig.14. Sir Thomas Coke KB in his roles as Knight of the Bath . He was one of the first knights of this order established by George I in 1725 . Paiting at Holkman by Jonathan Richardson 25 -- Fig.15. and 16. Thomas and Margaret with their robes and coronets after Thomas had been granted the earldom of Leicester in 1744. Thomas is also wearing the chain of his Order of the Bath and is shown in front of his proudest possession, the figure of Diana in his as yet unbuilt sculpture gallery . Paintings at Holkham by Andrea Casali 29 -- Fig.17. and 18. In 1746 , Thomas Margaret’s only surviving son Edward , Viscount Coke , married Lady Campbell , daughter of the Duke f Argyll . The marriage was a disaster and did not produce the heir Lord Leicester must have hoped for . Pastels at Holkham by Rosalba Carriera 30 -- Fig.19. Edward Viscount Coke in front of the great house he was never to inherit . He was a good-looking and gifted young man , representing Norfolk and later Harwich in the House of Commons from 1741 onwards, but he appears to have led a dissolute life that led to his early death in 1753. Painting at Holkham by Andrea Casali 32 -- Fig.20. Marble bust of Lord Leicester on a large funerary monument in the church of St Mary in Tittleshall , opposite the monument for Sir Edward the Chief Justice . Lord Leicester’s bust is by Louis – Francois Roubiliac 34 -- Fig.21. Marble bust of Lady Leicester in the church of St Mary in Tittleshall , by William Atkinson 35 -- Fig.22. Thomas Coke , Earl of Leicester , in a engraving after Christian Friedrich Zincke . Thomas’s formal attire , wearing a nobleman’s sword as well as the sash and star of his Order of the Bath , contrasts with the fact that he also characterized as an architect , with a pair of dividers in one hand and a case for drawing instruments in the other 37 -- Fig.23. An example of an etui of drawing instruments as shown in Coke’s hand in fig.22. 37 -- Fig.24. One plan from a set of drawings by Mathew Brettingham for the new house on Berkley Square that Lord Leicester was planning for himself in the 1750s. Leicester died before he could execute his plans; the design was passed on to the new owners of the site and used in modified form by their architect , Robert Adam . RIBA Drawings Collection in the Victoria & Albert Museum 38 -- Fig.25. Ground-floor plan of Robert Adam’s Lansdowne House , built from 1762 onwards on the basis of the plans developed by lord Leicester with the assistance of Mathew Brettingham . Published in Vitruvius Britanncus , vol. V , 1771 39 -- Fig.26. An aerial view of Holkham Park , looking north to the sea , shows the long and straight avenue from the southern entrance to the park , culminating in the Obelisk at highest point of the axis and then the mansion next to the artificial lake. Note the sinuous edges of the woodlands, pleasing to the eye but at the same time useful for the sport of shooting 54 -- Fig.27. A map of Holkham , dated 1590 . Of all the many buildings , roads and other features shown , only Holkham Church ( in the top left quarter ) survives 55 -- Fig.28. The Church of St Withburga , sole survivor among the medieval structures of Holkham. Retaining some elements dating back to the thirteenth century , it is mostly the result of a major restoration in the second earl’s time , from 1869 onwards 56 -- Fig.29. Detail of the 1590 map of Holkham . The Elizabeth manor house of Wheatley near the center of the map , surrounded by an orchard , remained the main residence of the Coke family and was only demolished in 1757 , when the new mansion (to which it was connected by a wooden passage) was nearing completion 56 -- Fig.30. The central part of a large map on vellum that was used in the 1720s. On this palimpsest , older structures , such as property borders and roads , have been erased and are overlaid by the new elements of Thomas Coke’s designed landscape , such as Obelisk Wood with its vistas. The features of the landscape define axis of the future mansion, which is not yet shown. The E-shaped Elizabethan house, the hall , strands west of the axis, and further west the outline of the future lake is already visible 58 -- Fig.31. A map from c. 1750 shows how the central features of the new designed landscape have replaced the older structures 60 -- Fig.32. The Temple in Obelisk Wood, built from 1730 onwards 61 -- Fig.33. The charming pleasure ground framing the mansion on the south and south-west was designed by William Kent to evoke an Italian or even Arcadian landscape 62 -- Fig.34. The Seat on the Mount was the central feature of the artificial hillock south-west of the house. It survived later reshaping of this part of the park until he late nineteenth century 63 -- Fig.35 The heads of the four figures of the Seat on the Mount , by the sculptor Peter Scheemakers, preserved outside a house in the nearby village of Burnham Overy 63 -- Fig.36. A drawing by William Kent showing the view from the house towards the south across the pond, with the classical ‘ porches’ framing the formal lines of trees defining the space between the house and Obelisk Wood 64 -- Fig.37. The contours of Elizabethan manor house of Wheatley shown in relation to Holkham’s south-west pavilion or Family Wing . The old house remained in use until its demolition in 1757 64 -- Fig.38. Detail of and undated map of Holkham showing the completed transformation of the designed landscape around 1760 Note that the somewhat outmoded formal lines of trees south of the pond have vanished 65 -- Fig.39. Willian Kent’s designed for the area north from the mansion, with clumps f trees and the north lodges also built to his design but demolished in 1845 66 -- Fig.40 As this mid-century watercolor by George Hayter shows ,all the decorative park elements of the pleasure ground were swept away around 1780 and the grassland was extended right up to the house 67 -- Fig.41. Detail of a map of Holkham dated 1843. The lake was given serpentine twists at both ends and the kitchen was replaced with a much larger one further to the west. Kent’s stables on the far side of the lake were demolished a few years after this map was made 68 -- Fig.42. Humphrey Repton’s fashionable improvements of the lake and its surroundings in his Red Book for Holkham, 1789 69 -- Fig.43. The Great Barn, built in 1790 to designs by Samuel Wyatt ,was the central place for Coke of Norfolk’s famous ‘sheep shearings’ – annual gatherings of farmers and landowners 70 -- Fig.44. A design for the capital of William Donthorne’s monument for Coke of Norfolk ,built 1845-50 on the site of Kent’s north lodge 71 -- Fig.45. The Triumphal Arch was built to mark the beginning of the main approach to the park from the south. Drawing by William Kent , c. 1730 . The scrawl on the tablet below the pediment reads ‘ W Kent and Lord Lovell ‘ 73 -- Fig.46. A detail from the plant catalogue of Thomas Coke’s kitchen garden in the 1730s 74 -- Fig.47. An Aerial view of the house in its parkland, with the sea in the background. The mansion is framed by the terraces built for the second Earl of Leicester between 1849 and 1855 76 -- Fig.48. A view of the arboretum east of the house, laid out in the early nineteenth century to provide a private area for the family 77 -- Fig. 49. The central feature of the pond in the Fernery from 1832 is an ancient Corinthian capital bearing clam shells brought from the Indian Ocean by Admiral Sir Henry Keppel 77 -- Fig.50. A design by the architect S.S. Teulon for the terraces on the west side of the house, 1846/47 78 -- Fig.51 A working drawing for the planting of the box compartments on the south terrace , by the landscape architect W A Nesfield 79 -- Fig.52. A working drawing for the initial compartment on the west terrace showing the Leicester ‘L” by W A Nesfield 79 -- Fig.53. Vertical view of the box compartments on the south terrace 80 -- Fig.54. View of the initial compartments on the west terrace with the lake in the background 81 -- Fig.55 Thomas Coke , Lord Lovell and Earl of Leicester (1697-1759) ,, Detail of a painting at Holkham by Jonathan Richardson , 1725 111 -- Fig.56. Richard Boyle , third Earl Burlington (1694 – 1753) Painting at Chatsworth House by George Knapton, 1743 112 -- Fig.57. William Kent (1685-1748) Potrait by William Aikman , c. 1720 112 -- Fig.58. Mathew Brettingham (1699-1769) , Thomas Coke’s amanuensis and executive architect . The portrait shows him holding an elevation of the Triumphal Arch , which was in fact designed mostly by William Kent . Portrait by John Theodore Heins , 1749 113 -- Fig.59. Margaret, Countess of Leicester (1700-1775) , who completed the building of the house and its interior decoration after her husband’s death 113 -- Fig.60 Holkham I (1726) , plan of the main floor. In the first designs , the house was planned without pavilions . The hall s already well developed , even if the gallery does not yet have much space for sculptures (although six niches are penciled into its eastern wall). Note the two symmetrical apartments in the eastern (right-hand) part of the house . Drawn by Mathew Brettingham 114 -- Fig.61. Holkham I (1726) , plan of the attic or mezzanine floor , containing eight bedrooms and their dressing rooms , presumably for family members visitors. Drawn by Mathew Brettingham 114 -- Fig.62. Holkham I (1726) , south elevation , with stairs to the portico ( an alternative version without stairs is also part of the set of drawings) Apart from the windows of the mezzanine story , the elevation conforms to that of the executed building . Drawn by Mathew Brettingham 115 -- Fig.63. Holkham I (1726) , north elevation . Note the very small entrance door . The elevation conforms to that of the executed building . Drawn by Mathew Brettingham 115 -- Fig.64. Holkham I (1726) , west elevation or gallery front . Note the narrow windows in the recesses next to the towers which provide some light for the newel stairs connecting the three stories. As the mezzanine was abolished, the newels were never executed , but the ‘ghosts’ of the windows can still be seen on the façade today . Drawn by Mathew Brettingham 116 -- Fig.65. Holkham I (1726) , east elevation . On the east side of the house , the mezzanine story was in fact executed ( see fig. 108 ) Drawn by Mathew Brettingham 116 -- Fig.66. Elevation of Wanstead I , Essex , by Colen Campbell as published in his Vitruvius Brittannicus , vol I. (1715) . Built 1713-17 (and demolished 1824) , the first neo - Palladian country house in England was hugely influential 117 -- Fig.67. Elevation of Houghton Hall , Norfolk , by Colen Campbell as published in his Vitruvius Britannicus , vol III (1725) Built for Robert Walpole , Thomas Coke’s near neighbor and political patron , the Houghston design was an obvious starting point Coke’s concept 118 -- Fig.68. Main floor plan of Houghton Hall , Norfolk , by Colen Campbell as published in his Vitruvius Britannicus , vol III (1725) Although generally similar to the plan of Holkham I (fig.60) , the arrangement at Houghton seems focused on providing living space in the shape of four apartments on the main floor and more in the mezzanine. Its large staircases are rather more functional than the narrow ones of Holkham I 118 -- Fig.69. With its corner towers , the classical Villa Rustica , as reconstructed by Vincenzo Scamozzi (1548-1616) , provided the inspiration for many neo – Pallidian country houses 119 -- Fig.70. Elevation and main floor plan of Chiswick House , designed by Lord Burlington at roughly the same time as Holkham I and built from 1727 onwards . Engraving from William Kent’s book The Designs of Inigo Jones , 1727 119 -- Fig.71. Elevation of Tottenham House , designed by Lord Burlington and built in the 1720s clearly one of the inspirations for Holkham I . Drawing by Henry Flitcroft , dated 1721 120 -- Fig.72. Chiswick , section through the gallery . Drawing by Henry Flitcroft 121 -- Fig.73. Holkham II , section through the gallery . Fro, Brettingham’s Plans , 1773 121 -- Fig.74. Octagonal room in Palladio’s Palazzo Thiene in Vicenza , inspiration for the gallery end rooms at Chiswick and Holkham 123 -- Fig.75. One of several drawings by Palladio in Burlington’s possession showing a gallery layout with a double-apsed room in the middle 123 -- Fig.76. The Villa Mocenigo , as published by Andrea Palladio in his Quatro Libri dell’Architecttura (1570) , vol II 66 , both inspired and authorized the novel four – pavilion concept elaborated for Holkham II 124 -- Fig.77. The layout of villas like Colen Campbell’s Stourhead , published in his Vitruvius Britannicus , vol III (1725) , may have been the starting point for developing the modular grid plan perfected for the pavilions of Holkham II 124 -- Fig.78. Main floor plan of Holkham II as published by Mathew Brettingham in his Plans of Holkham (1761) , showing the fully developed four – pavilion concept with its flexible layout for the wings 125 -- Fig.79. Holkham II , north elevation and northern half of the main floor plan , drawn by Mathew Brettingham , c 1733 . This earliest Holkham II plan of at least part of the body of the house is still closed based on Holkham I as one can see in the design for the gallery, but shows some development in the dining room area . The facades if the pavilions are probably based on designs by William Kent ( figs. 83 , 84 , and 85 ) . Note that the central windows of Kitchen and Strangers’ Wings in Brettingham’s and Kent’s drawings are not yet upgraded to Venetian windows 125 -- Fig.80. The earliest complete main floor plan of Holkham II , drawn by Mathew Brettingham , c 1733 . Compared to the earlier drawing, fig. 79 , the dining room area has been developed further , providing better services access from the rear . The gallery has nearly reached its final form , except that its eastern wall does not have niches for sculptures . Note the state bedroom in the eastern part of the house showing tow columns forming a screen for a state bed . The great stairs to the portico were never executed 126 -- Fig.81. Ground floor plan of Holkham II , drawn by Mathew Brettingham , c 1733 126 -- Fig.82. Letter written by Thomas Coke to Mathew Brettingham at the end of March 1733 , beginning ‘ It is with pleasure I can inform you our whole design is vastly approved of by Ld. Burlington’ 127 -- Fig.83. The south front of Holkham II , showing William Kent’s suggestion for more elaborate decoration on the main-floor façade c 1733 . Note the oval windows as remnants of Holkham I’s mezzanine story ; note also the niches filling the outer bays behind the portico – they recur in the drawings shown in figs. 84 and 86 and indicate an alternative design for the Saloon . Engraving inscribed (bottom left ) ‘ Gulielmus Kent Archit. Et Pict. Invenit et Delin’ 129 -- Fig.84. Holkham II , south elevation , drawing by William Kent based on his engraving and suggesting more decoration (fig.83) but now without any remnants of the mezzanine floor 130 -- Fig.85. Holkham II , north elevation , drawing by William Kent showing his ideas for more rustication 130 -- Fig.86. Holkham II , south elevation , drawing by Mathew Brettingham integrating a small part of the more elaborate ornamentation suggested by William Kent 131 -- Fig.87. The gallery flank of the house and the pavilions suggests that the designers of Holkham II were note giving the lateral aspect as much attention as they gave the two main fronts 131 -- Fig.88. The double-apsed room frequently occurring in Roman houses, here shown in the center of Andrea Palladio’s design Atrio di Quattro Colonne , published in his Quattro Libri dell’Archittetura (1570) , vol II , 26 , inspired Coke to conceive his own version at Holkham 132 -- Fig.89. An unexecuted design by Paladio for the Villa Chiericati , Vanci muglio di Grumolo delle Abbadesse , showing his use of the double-apsed room 132 -- Fig.90. The elevations shown in figs. 83, 84 and 86 suggest that the room behind the portico was at this stage planned as a double-apsed Roman saloon, as hypothetically reconstructed in this plan 133 -- Fig.91. In his hall for Osterley House (1761-65) , Robert Adam produced his version of the Roman double-apsed room , though much lower in height than it would have been at Holkham 133 -- Fig.92. The double-apsed room for the Cottonian library in William Kent’s experiences at Holkham just around this time . It coffered barrel vault may well be a version of what was planned for the Roman Saloon at Holkham 133 -- Fig.93. Hypothetical visualization of the Roman Saloon considered at Holkham in the mid 1700s 133 -- Fig.94. Holkham , the Marble Hall as executed 135 -- Fig.95. Holkham , the Marble Hall in a drawing by William Kent , c 1733 , based on the Holkham I concept of 1726 . Note the fireplace in the lateral wall of the ground level ; note also the two circular staircases opening into the Saloon 136 -- Fig.96. The Temple of Venus and Roma – here shown in a drawing by Andrea Palladio – was one of the sources for the Marble Hall 136 -- Fig.97. The tabernacle in Solomon’s Temple , as reconstructed by Juan Bautista Villapando and published in 1605 , was another of the sources used for the Marble Hall , indicating the Masonic significance of the room in particular and the house in general 137 -- Fig.98. Detail of Kent’s drawing of the Marble Hall (fig.95) showing the figure of a lion: in this position a further Masonic reference 137 -- Fig.99. The palms shown in Villapando’s engraving (fig.97) recur in a design for a bedroom of Charles II at Greenwich attributed to Inigo Jones and published by John Vardy and William Kent in 1744 138 -- Fig.100. The Palm Room in Spencer House in London , designed by John Vardy , 1756 138 -- Fig.101. Bust of Thomas Coke , Earl of Leicester , as a Roman patrician , executed by Francis Leggatt Chantrey on the basis of an original by Louis Francois Roubliac 139 -- Fig.102. A graph showing the expenses for building the various parts of the house between 1734 and 1765 and differentiation between costs for bricklayers (black) , other costs for the shell of the house (grey) and the massive amounts spent on the interior decoration (yellow) 143 -- Figs.103 to 106. Visualization of the progress of the structure , with the Family Wing attached to the Old House by a wooden passage. The southern aspect of the house and Chapel Wing finished y 1755 and Strangers’ Wing just being started on in 1757. Note that the basement was built , in red brick , on top of the existing ground level and the earth filled around the southern , western , and northern sides of the house from the mid 1750s and onwards 144 --
Fig.107. A sketch by Friedrich Carl von Hardenberg who visited Holkham in 1744. As the Hanoverian court director of buildings and gardens , he was mostly interested in the designed landscape , but he also noted that the family wing was ‘ not deeply sunk into the ground ‘ 145 -- Fig.108. In the courtyard formed by the east façade of the house and the adjoining wings, one can see how the basement was built on top of the natural ground level 145 -- Fig.109 Holkham II , section through the Hall and Saloon , drawn by Mathew Brettingham c 1753 The Hall has been redesigned using the Ionic order . Compared to the section published by Brettingham , c 1761 (fig.112) and the measured drawing (fig. 113) , the proportions of the Saloon appear incorrectly drawn 146 -- Fig. 110. Holkham II , section along the northern enfilade of the body of the house , looking south (towards the rooms), drawn by Mathew Brettingham , c 1753 . The Dining Room details conform to the version executed in 1753-4 147 -- Fig.111. Holkham II , section along the northern enfilade of the body of the house , looking north (towards the windows ) drawing by Mathew Brettingham c 1753 147 -- Fig.112 Holkham II section through the Hall and Saloon , published by Mathew Brettingham in his Plans of Holkham, 1761 148 -- Fig 113. Holkham , section through the Hall and Saloon , measured drawing , 2005 , showing all the basement and the Victorian porch , and the actual situation in the roof spaces: the different levels in the roof illustrate that the southern half of the body of the house was built first and the northern half added afterwards 149 -- Fig 114 Plan of the central part of the body of the house , with Marble Hall , Saloon and portico , measured drawing , 2005 149 -- Fig 115 Unused recessed bases for beams in the space above the Marble Hall are the result of planning changes made during the execution of the building 150 -- Fig.116 Visualization of the construction phases of the Marble Hall , starting from basement level and showing how to inner north wall at ground floor level was first built and then (in 1757) demolished , changing the room from a static space to a directed and dynamic one 151 -- Fig.117. Holkham II , main floor drawn by Mathew Brettingham in 1757 and showing the first stage of the dramatic change in the Marble Hall . The inner north wall has been removed , but the horse-she shaped staircase to the Saloon is still there 152 -- Fig.118. Detail of fig.117 , highlighting the irregularities cased by the changes in the Marble Hall: the northernmost columns are now interfering with the northern enfilade 152 -- Fig.119. Detail of the measured drawing , fig 113 , showing that Brettingham’s effort to deal with the problems of the plan changes in the Marble Hall were not completely successful: the door to the Brown (North) State Dressing Rom is not perfectly aligned behind the columns 153 -- Fig.120. The railings of the Marble Hall 153 -- Fig.121. The arrangement of altar pictures of the Chapel, with Guido Reni’s Assumption of the Virgin in the center 154 -- Fig.122. A drawing showing the many different shapes and sized of bricks needed for the rusticated front of the ground floor 155 -- Fig.123. Detail of original brickwork and pointing of the ground floor 155 -- Fig.124. View of the space over the Marble Hall , showing the wood – and - plaster shell of the vaulted ceiling and the apse 156 -- Fig.125. A view of the Statue Gallery, looking south 193 -- Fig.126. A plan showing the Roman and the baroque areas of Holkham’s Grand Apartment 194 -- Fig.127. A plan showing the original room name as well as (in red) some later names used in the text 194 -- Fig.128. Sebastiano Conca’s Elysian Fields , commissioned by young Thomas Coke in Rome during his Grand Tour , originally adorned the Green Danmask Dressing Room in Stranger’s Wing. In 1773 , the younger Brettingham characterized it as ‘a large picture full of figures , amongst which his Lordship is represented in the Character of Orpheus 195 -- Fig. 129. A section through the main house, looking south , from Brettingham junior’s Plans , Elevations and Sections of Holkham -- Fig. 130. The ceiling of the Marble Hall ( from Plans , 1773 ) -- Fig.131. Detail of the columns and the ceiling in the Marble Hall 197 -- Fig.132 Overdoor ornamentation in the Saloon 198 -- Fig.133 One of the Saloon side tables with corner posts in the shape of storks 198 -- Fig.134. One of the two identical Roman mosaics on the side tables in the Saloon 199 -- Fig.135. Detail of one of the legs of the table in the apse of the State Dining Room 201 -- Fig.136. A drawing by John Vardy with details of the table in the apse of the State Dining Room 201 -- Fig.137. The ceiling of the ( West ) Drawing Room, after a design by Inigo Jones 202 -- Fig.138. The table in the West Drawing Room 203 -- Fig.139. The table in the South Dining Room or State Ante-Chamber 204 -- Fig.140. One of the overdoor paintings in the State Bedroom , by Zuccarelli 206 -- Fig.141. The original couch bed , placed temporarily underneath the canopy of the state bed 206 -- Fig.142 Relief on the fireplace of the North State Bedroom 208 -- Fig.143. Statue of a togatus entitled Lucius Antonius. The sculpture was once in the saloon of the Congregazione dell’Archiconfraternita della SS . Annunziata in Rome. The restored head is excellent in its features and expression , and its pose is aligned in perfect harmony with the movement of the right arm 210 -- Fig.144. Statue of Diana . The divine huntress is identified by the quiver at the back with its strap slung slantwise from the right shoulder across the breast , and the (restored) bow in her left hand . There is a small remnant of the original bow near the left hip. Purchased from the house of Ignazio Consiglieri 211 -- Fig.145. Engraving of a togatus entitled Lucius Antonius , published by Domenico de Rossi in his Raccolta di statue antiche e modern (1704) The lavish folio volumes concentrated on the most celebrated ancient sculptures , with a handful of modern ones , and were arranged by location , revealing that most of the masterpieces were then owned by the leading families of Rome 212 -- Fig.146. Engraving of the statue of Diana , published by Domenico de Rossi in his Raccolta di statue antiche e modern (1704) . Paolo Alessandro Maffei believed , as did earlier antiquarians , that , according to Pliny the Elder , Greek statues were nude , whereas Roman works were clothed 212 -- Fig.147. The statue of Diana between Bacchus (left) and Venus (right) 213 -- Fig.148. Kent’s trompe loeil mural of Thomas Coke’s statue of Diana in the King’s Staircase at Kensington Palace, c. 1725 214 -- Fig.149. Statue entitled Jupiter . The larger life-sized body was once an image of a member of the imperial family , but was restored to accomodate4 the head of the paternal god before it was purchased by Coke. Further repairs , including to the head , were done in London by the English sculptor Joseph Wilton 215 -- Fig.150. Initially in the vestibule beneath the southern portico, the figure later resided in the Victorian conservatory . When this building lost its roof after World War II , Jupiter ‘s body was moved to the upper story of the game larder , which is modelled on the Tower of the Winds in Athens 215 -- Fig.151. Head of a bearded deity entitled Jupiter . In 1954 the sculpture was removed from the body and displayed separately. It is far more exquisitely worked than the body to which it was attached . A Michaelis believed its artistry was so excellent that the marble merited a cast to be made of it and disseminated for study purposes 216 -- Fig.152. Statue of Neptune . according to a very similar example from Caesarea in Mauretania ( modern Cherchell ) and now in the National Museum in Algiers , the statue should be restored with a hippocampus ( a fish-tailed horse ) an its advanced right arm. There are remains of a support which reveal that the trident is a correct repair 216 -- Fig.153. Detail of Neptune ‘s Dolphin . The zigzag-patterned teeth are precisely etched to the stone , endowing the aquatic mammal with a threatening character , eyes and eyebrows aptly carved . The waves are sculpted below the dolphin ‘s mouth and continue on the broken section of the pedestal , showing it to be original to the statue 218 -- Fig.154. Head of a goddess entitled Juno . Michaelis rightly praised this beautiful head as one of Brettingham’s prime purchases . Its excellence later caused Sir Charles Walston to attempt to connect it with the missing head of Aphrodite from the eastern pediment of the Parthenon . Athough it is not now thought to be a product if Phidias or his workshop , present verdict holds it to be a most admirable work of Roman art 219 -- Fig.155. Although Dea Roma appeared in Greek art , on Roman coinage and in the company of emperors on state reliefs , it was not until Hadrian ‘s reign that the goddess was worshipped in the metropolis . In AD 135 , the emperor dedicated a temple to Roma Aeterna on the Velia Hill , which shows that by mid – second century the deity had evolved into an essential feature of imperial ideology 219 -- Fig.156. Portrait of Thuclydies entitled Metrodorus . There is a plaster cast of the Holkham bust in the Pushkin Museum , Moscow . His History of the Peloponnesian War gives us his biography . He fought in the war , contracted the plague and was exiled by the Athenian democracy . Little mention of him made in fourth – century BC literature . Put simply , Thucydides became popular because he was the recorder of an unpopular civil war 220 -- Fig.157. Portrait of Plato entitled Lysias . The philosopher is remembered for many things , including several; famous quotes that still ring true today : “ Truth is the beginning of every good to the gods , and every good to man ad The first and greatest victory is to conquer yourself ; to be conquered by yourself is of all things most shameful and vile 220 -- Fig.158. Statue of Marsyas entitled Faunus . He wears a crown of stone pine (pinus pinea) according to Apollodorus of Athens , this was the genus of tree on which he was skinned . Antonio Canova , the eighteenth-century Italian sculptor who refused to restore the Elgin marvles , pronounced this Faunus to be ‘ the finest statue which ever made its escape out of Italy ‘ 221 – Fig.159. The Holkham Marsyas has no tail , and his goat ears are covered by his hair . Only by presenting the wild creature without undue physiognomical exaggeration , therefore as nearly human , could look of insolence and doubt be so masterfully mingled 222 -- Fig.160. Detail of the panther skin on Marsyas’s back . The pelt is of special interest for its marvelous attention to detail ; the front edges have fur clusters , and notches at the back indicates cuts in the skin . The tufted tail end is delicately carved on the support 222 -- Fig.161. The statue of Marsyas on a rotatable base between Meleager (left) and Neptune (right) 223 -- Fig.162. Statue of Meleanger . The statue formula is usually assigned to the end of the fifth century BC within the Argive school of the sculptor Polycleitus . Romans had an insatiable demand for Polycleitan replicas and adaptations . The sleek , well – padded forms , enlarged pectoral expanse and swollen nipples are typical of late Hadrianic tastes , and comparisons of the treatment of the hair with portraits of the Emperor Hadrian (AD 117-138) bear out the proposed dating 224 -- Fig.163. Statue of Venus . According to Brettingham , Cavaceppi restored the statue . The sculptor added the left hand with the vase , an attribute in keeping with the eighteenth – century interpretation of the deity’s action as one of disrobing prior to bathing . The rusticated top of the circular pedestal is atypical of ancient workmanship and may be an embellishment by Cavaceppi , like the inverted nipples 224 -- Fig.164. Head of Bacchus entitled Juno . The larger than life-sized bust shows a distinctly un-antique arrangement of the garments: the buttoned sleeve of the tunic exposes the left breast and over it is a mantle , fastened by two buttons at the right shoulder and bound at the bottom edge by a swathe of drapery 225 -- Fig.165. Portrait bust of Gordian III . The head is connected to a bust , draped in a toga contabulata , a form of dress that was fashionable in the middle of the third century AD , with the section of cloth covering the entire breadth of the chest . The restorer was clearly wide awake on archaeological matters , because he connected the portrait with a chronologically compatible bust type 226 -- Fig.166. Portrait of a man entitled Sulla . The bust’s fame is attested by an eighteenth – century replica that had been purchased in Rome from the Spanish Cardinal Despuig y Dameto ‘s collection on the island of Majorca . There is also a cast of this head in the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh from the restorer Carlo Albacini ‘ s collection of casts of Greco-Roman portraits . Albacini made many casts from works he restored 227 -- Fig.167. Portrait of a young lady entitled Salonina . According to Brettingham , the marble was found during dredging of the port of Neptuno , a village in Latium ( Lazio ) , near the Tyrrhenian Sea . A replica of this head exists at Petworth House ; according to Charles Townley , it was from the collection of the eighteenth – century English antiquary and banker Lyde Browne , who had amassed a vast collection of ancient marbles 227 -- Fig.168. An overview of the arrangement of sculptures in the Marble Hall 229 -- Fig.169. The inscription above the entrance door to the Marble Hall naming Lord Leicester as the creator of Holkham was placed there by his widow 231 -- Fig.170 Plaque of The Sow and Her Pigs in the western fireplace of the State Dining Room . The sow’s nose has been broken off since the eighteenth century 232 -- Fig.171. The print from which the relief of The Sow and Her Pigs was copied 232 -- Fig.172. Plaque of The Bear and Bee - hives in the eastern fireplace of the State Dining Room 232 -- Fig.173. The print front which the relief of The Bear and Bee hives was copied 232 -- Fig.174. An overview of the arrangement of sculptures in the Gallery 234 -- Fig.175. Peter Paul Rubens , The Flight of the Holy Family to Egypt 238 -- Fig.176. Anthony van Dyck , Portrait of Albert de Ligne , Prince of Arenberg and Brabancon 239 -- Fig.177. Claude Gellee , called le Lorrain , Apollo Flaying Marsyas 240 -- Fig.178. Claude Gellee , called le Lorrain , Apollo Guarding the Cattle of Admestus 241 -- Fig.179. Claude Gellee , called le Lorrain , The Origin of Coral 242 -- Fig.180. Pompeo Batoni , portrait in van Dyck dress of the nineteen-year-old Thomas William Coke (‘ Coke of Norfolk ‘) on his Grand Tour 243 -- Fig.181. Luigi Garzi ‘s painting Cincinnatus at the Plough , commissioned by Thomas Coke on his Grand Tour , originally hung in the Closet to the Green State Bedroom 244 -- Fig.182. The painting of the Colosseum and the Arc of Titus in Rome by Gaspar van Wittel (aka Gaspare Vanvitelli or Occhiali ), also commissioned by Coke on his Grand Tour , originally adorned the Closet to the North State Bedroom 245 -- Fig.183. Claude Joseph Vernet , Sea Piece 247 -- Figs.184 and 185. Andrea Locatelli, two painting both entitled Landscape with Ruins 248 – Figs.186 and 187. Two animal paintings by Melchior d ’ Hondecoeter 250 -- Fig.188. In the Saloon , Andrea Procaccini ‘s Tarquin Raping Lucretia was paired with Giuseppe Bartolomeo Chiari ‘s Perseus Rescuing Andromeda both commissioned by young Thomas Coke on his Grand Tour 252 -- Fig.189. Giuseppe Bartolomeo Chiari’s The Continence of Scipio Africanus was another painting commissioned by young Thomas Coke on his Grand Tour . According to Brettingham junior , “ The Earl himself , then a Youth , is introduced in the Character of Allucius ‘ – the young nobleman to whom Scipio restored his captured bride . The painting has long been gone from Holkham , but briefly reappeared on the market in 1975 253 -- Fig.190. Amongst the four large historical paintings centering on the Roman virtues that originally dominated the Saloon , Coriolanus in the Camp of the Volsci by the seventeenth-century painter Pietro da Cortona was the only one that Coke did not need to commission . The drawing by Cortona ( in the Kupferstichkabinett in Berlin ) closely matches detailed descriptions of the lost painting 253 -- Fig.191. Guido Reni , Joseph and the Wife of Potiphar 254 -- Fig.192. Gavin Hamilton , Jupiter Caressing Juno 256 -- Fig.193. Although there must have been many drawings by William Kent for the intentions of Family Wing , the one of the library and this design for a fireplace and overmantel are the only known survivors 259 -- Fig.194. The back of Kent’s drawing is inscribed ‘a Sketch for Ld Lovell ‘s Library at Holkham , WK 1737 -- Fig.195. William Kent ‘s design for the east wall of the Long Library , 1737 261 -- Fig.196. The east wall of the Long Library , as published in an engraving in Brettingham junior’s Plans of Holkham in 1773 261 -- Fig.197. Troy burning , an illumination attributed to the ‘ Master of the Prayer Books of around 1500 , from Ms. 311 , a Flemish (Bruges) copy of Virgil ‘s works 262 -- Fig.198. A vignette at the beginning of Virgil ’s Bucolics , painted shortly after the copy of the manuscript in 1473 and attributed to the Master of Fitzwilliam 268 , from Ms.311 263 -- Fig.199. A sheet of sketches in Ms 271 , an album sold to Thomas Coke as drawings by Raphael 264 -- Fig.200. Drawing of the Arch of Titus in Ms 271 , sold to Thomas Coke as drawn by Raphael 264 -- Fig.201. Initial depicting Hannibal ‘s oath of eternal enmity to Rome in Livy , Ms 351.2 265 -- Fig.202. Title page of Pliny’s Historia naturale , Venice 1476 , BN 1985 265 -- Fig.203. Sketches of architectural details in Ms 271 , sold to Coke as by Raphael 266 -- Fig.204. Frontispiece and title page of Thomas Cempster’s De Etruria regali , published 1723 and naming Thomas Coke as editor 266 -- Fig.205. Section of the Pantheon in Rome , from Antoine Desgodetz , Les Edifices antiques de Rome , Paris , 1682 267 -- Fig.206. Some of the splendidly bound books in the library 268 -- Fig.207. Title page of sir Edward Coke ‘s copy of the Magna charta cum statuis tum antiquis , published 1576 , with his signature and annotations , BN7834 269 -- Fig.208. Portrait of King Edward I in a pocket-size copy of the Magna Carta written in the early fourteenth century, Ms 134 270 -- Fig.209. King David in prayer in a fifteenth – century Flemish psalter , Ms 224 , fol 105v 270 -- Fig.210. The Roman mosaic above the fireplace in the Long Library was purchased by Thomas William Coke on his Grand Tour 271 -- Fig.211. Detail of the mosaic in the Long Library , showing its outstanding quality 272 -- Fig.212. A watercolor of the mosaic made for Richard Topham’s ‘ Paper Museum ‘ in the early eighteenth – century 273 -- Fig.213. In 1865 , the Prince of Wales ( later King Edward VII ) and his wife visited Holkham and a ball of honor was given for them in the candlelit Grand Apartment 294 -- Fig.214. Plan of Holkham’s principal floor as published by Brettingham ( 1761 ) 296 -- Fig.215. The main floor Strangers Wing in a plan drawn in 1757 , showing three guest apartments with their bedrooms and dressing rooms 296 -- Fig.216. The main floor of Family Wing in a plan drawing in 1757 , showing the bedroom shared by Lord and Lady Leicester and the locations of the up-to-date water closets , one in Lady Leicester ‘s closet next to the bedroom , the other in the corner of Lord Leicester ‘s closet next to the bedroom , the other in the corner of Lord Leicester ‘s dressing room 296 -- Fig.217. Plan of Holkham ’s ‘ rustic basement ’ or ground floor , as published by Brettingham ( 1761 ) 299 -- Fig.218. Plan of Holkham ‘s ‘ underground story ‘ , as published by Brettingham ( 1761 ) , showing the vaulted basement underneath the main house and detailing all the service areas on the eastern side 301 -- Fig.219. The bell system for calling servants from the various rooms used by family and guests , situated in the service corridor on the south side , next to the portico room 302 -- Fig.220. Fallow deer , introduced by the second earl in the 1840 s , populate the park 303 -- Fig.221. Pie , Bobs , Pickles , Duke , and Jeanie , the family dogs in 1914 : a Labrador retriever cross , a chihuahua , a Plummer ‘s or Parson ‘s Jack cross , something like West Highland and Jack Russell . Doubtless a highly entertaining group 304 -- Fig.233. The seventh Earl of Leicester and his spaniel Swazi on a bench next to their own bronze likeness , a gift from his wife , Lady Sarah , for his 65th birthday in 2001 . The dog is in fact buried at this spot 305 -- Fig.224. Bilbo , the current leader of the dogs at Holkham 305 -- Fig.225. Visitors and guests ambulate on the lawn outside Holkham ‘ s south front in the 1830s 307 -- Fig.226. A handheld picture guide to the paintings and details of the Saloon , 1853 309 -- Fig.227. A handheld picture guide to the paintings and details of the West Drawing Room , dated March 1853 309 -- Fig.228 The almhouses flanking the northern entrance to Holkham Park , built and endowed by Lady Margaret in 1755-59 330 -- Fig.229. Armorial window in the Church of St Withburga commemorating Lady Margaret ‘s repairs to the church 331 -- Fig.230. Thomas Gainsborough ‘s portrait dated 1778 shows Coke of Norfolk as a county gentleman 332 -- Fig.231. A relief from the monument on the north side of the house , erected for Coke of Norfolk soon after his death in 1842 , with the earl on the right 334 -- Fig.232. Lady Juliana , the second earl ‘s first wife , with her daughter Lady Anne and her son Thomas William , the future third earl , c. 1870 335 -- Fig.233. Although the marvel of Victorian technology , the plate – glass windows put in by the second earl disfigured the original well – balanced façade and were gradually replaced in a program initiated by the fifth earl 336 -- Fig.234. The third Earl of Leicester , c. 1900 337 -- Fig.235. The Landscape Room with its Edwardian curtains and rug as depicted in the 1986 house guide 339 -- Fig.236. The third earl’s sons , Thomas William (1880-1949 ) , who became the fourth earl , and Arthur (1882 – 1915 ) , killed in action at Gallipoli 339 -- Fig.237. A portrait bust of the fifth earl in the Long Library , amongst mementoes of the royal family , with a picture of the present earl on the right 340 -- Fig.238. Lady Elizabeth , the fifth earl’s wife 342 -- Fig.239. Lady Elizabeth and her eldest daughter , Lady Anne , busy in the pottery they ran very successfully at Holkham 343 -- Fig.240. The seventh Earl of Leicester surveying the landscape from the roof of the house in 2003 244 -- Fig.241. Lady Sarah , the seventh earl’s wife , with one of the many Labrador puppies she bred over the years 344 -- Fig.242. Lord and Lady Leicester in 2024 347 --
"Lord Leicester designed Holkham as the ideal home and setting for the ancient sculptures, distinguished paintings, and other treasures he had acquired on his Grand Tour. The unique Marble Hall and the Gallery revive and celebrate the virtues of ancient Rome, while the saloons and staterooms vibrate with a baroque sense of grandeur and splendor. With the original family still in custodianship, Holkham is a unique survivor of the golden age of English country house culture"-- Provided by publisher.