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The Painted Hall is a true masterpiece, boasting one of the most spectacular Baroque interiors in Europe. The extraordinary ceiling and wall decorations were conceived and executed by British artist Sir James Thornhill.

As part of your visit to the Painted Hall enjoy the chance to see four rarely seen early 18th-century sketches showing Thornhill’s early designs for the Painted Hall and for Headley Park House in Hampshire.

These lively sketchbook drawings in brown ink and pencil show Thornhill exploring grand themes, such as the triumph of peace and liberty over tyranny and arbitrary power. Key elements of the Lower Hall ceiling design, and compositional elements of the West Wall of the Painted Hall, begin to emerge, influenced in part by other Baroque artists of the period, the Italian Antonio Verrio and the French decorative painters Charles Le Brun and Louis Laguerre.

The sketches will be on display in the Vestibule area of the Painted Hall.