CASTLE HOWARD, THE SEAT OF THE EARL OF CARLISLE. THE magnificent mansion called Castle Howard is distant about four miles from Sheriff Hutton, and fourteen, therefore, from York. The old castle of Hinderskelf, upon the site of which the present regal fabric is constructed, was accidentally destroyed by fire; and in this instance, at least, the feudal grandeur of the ancient pile has not degenerated, but is nobly imitated in the massive splendour of the modern. Castle Howard was built by the Right Hon. Charles Howard, Earl of Carlisle, from a design of Sir John Vanbrugh, in the same style as Blenheim House, in Oxfordshire. The line of front, however, is longer than Blenheim House, and its exterior more imposing. The state apartments are remarkable for their grandeur, but it has been remarked that, in general, the rooms exceed in height the usual proportion. The hall is thirty-five feet square, and sixty feet high, terminating at the top in a spacious dome, one hundred feet high, adorned with columns of the Corinthian and composite orders. The walls are painted by Pellegrini, with the history of Phaeton; and the room is ornamented with several antique statues and busts. The principal of the former are those of Augustus, Marcus Aurelius, Julia Mammea, the consort of Septimius Severus, Bacchus, and Ceres. The saloon and dining-room are beautiful apartments. The ceiling of the first is painted with the representation of Aurora; and the statues and busts are those of Jupiter, Serapis, Pallas, Cupid, Commodus, Domitian, Enobarbus, Didius Julianus, Marcus Aurelius, Adrian, Antoninus Pius, &c. The dining-room is twenty-eight feet in length. The chimney-piece is a most beautiful piece of workmanship, as will be seen from the following description. The entablature is supported by fluted columns of Sienna marble, adorned with groups of polished white marble, and surmounting it are three bronzes of Brutus, Cassius, and the Laocoon. In the same room are two slabs of Sicilian jasper, and a valuable vase of fine green porphyry, with two busts, one of Marcus Aurelius, and the other of a Bacchanal. The saloon up stairs is painted by Pellegrini. On the ceiling are Venus and Minerva, and on the walls a representation of the principal incidents in the Trojan war: namely, the Rape of Helen, the sacrifice of Iphigenia, Achilles in disguise in the midst of the daughters of Lycomedes, Ajax and Ulysses contending for the armour of Achilles, the Conflagration of Troy, and Æneas bearing from the flames Anchises on his shoulders. It is impossible not to be struck with astonishment and admiration in passing through the Museum and the Antique Gallery. Here are to be found the busts of Cato, Marcus Junius Brutus, Caius Cæsar, Geta, Virgil, Homer, Hercules, Sabina, Drusus, Jupiter, Serapis, Adrian, Cupid, and Apollo. In one corner of the Museum is a cylindrical altar, four feet and a half high, which once stood in the temple of Delphos. Indeed, every room throughout contains numerous relics of antiquity to claim our attention; and the numberless pictures which adorn the walls, with the extensive and choice collection of vases, cannot possibly be noticed in this limited account. All the pictures over the doors in the state apartments were painted by Sebastian Ricci, and we find distributed through the different apartments the following works by the most eminent artists: The finding of Moses. VELASQuez. The portrait of Snyders, the painter. VANDYCK. Portraits of the Dukes of Ferrara. TINTORETTO. Old copies of the two rival pictures by Guido and Domenichino, in the Church of San Gregorio at Rome, highly valuable, as the originals are in a state of rapid decay. Mars and Venus. GIULIO ROMANO.-From the Cornaro Palace at Venice. The Wise Men's Adoration. MABUSE.-The master is said to have given eight years of unremitted labour to this work. In it are portraits of the Duke of Brabant, John of Leyden, Albert Durer, and himself. A Mastiff Dog with Cubs. TITIAN. Cornaro Palace at Venice. From the The Portrait of Cardinal Howard. CARLO MARATTI. Presented to Henry, Earl of Carlisle, by Cardinal Ottoboni. A small picture by W. VANDEVelde. The portrait of Omar. SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. Mahomet. SALVATOR Rosa. From the Cornaro Palace. |