Part of Henry Holland's 1788 enlargement, enclosed the existing outside wall
and allowing direct access to the South Drawing Room. In Edwardian times, the
corridor was called 'The Painters' Passage', and Lord Spencer has returned this
corridor to the decor of his grandfather's time and given it its previous name.
The Roman Emperors' busts have been retrieved from the attics and the marble
busts from throughout the house have been brought to this one site. There are
two busts of definitive likeness: a marble one of Charles Le Brun, Premier
Peintre du Roi to Louis XIV, by Antoine Coysevox (1640-1720) who worked at the
court at Versailles; and a terracotta bust signed and dated 1743 of Van Dyck by
John Michael Rysbrack (1694-1770), bought in 1743 by the Hon. John Spencer. Also
by Rysbrack, a bust of Earl Godolphin commissioned by Sarah, Duchess of
Marlborough, which was rescued from the fire at Wimbledon Park in 1785 -
although its companion, a bust of the Duke of Marlborough, did not survive.
Rysbrack, many of whose works are in Westminster Abbey, was described by Horace
Walpole, a frequent visitor, as 'the greatest master seen in these islands since
Le Sueur' - a judgement history has confirmed. A sculpture of The Innocent being
carried to Heaven by Joseph Nollekens (1737-1823), representing one of the
Innocents slain by King Herod, was commissioned by Lord Spencer in Rome in 1764,
and is believed to have been displayed in the Painted Room at Spencer House.
The collection of paintings, many of them self-portraits by artists of
Dutch, Italian and English studios,
Sir Joshua Reynolds, self portrait.
David Garrick, by Benjamin Wilson.
Sofonisba Anguiscola, self portrait.
were inherited through Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, and originally hung in her Wimbledon manor. There is a self-portrait of Sir Joshua Reynolds who was responsible for painting over three decades of the Spencer family, and there are many portraits of his work throughout the house. A portrait by Benjamin Wilson of David Garrick, the actor (1772), who was a frequent visitor to the house in the First Earl's time, and was a great patron of the arts. The little medallion that he holds is of Shakespeare. He also took a great interest in the building and in the decor of Spencer House. Also a self-portrait by Sofonisba Anguis-cola (c.1532-1625), an Italian portrait painter and the first woman artist to achieve international recognition, who became court painter to Philip II of Spain. Either side of the door to the South Drawing Room is a wind clock with weather vane, attached to an outside vane linked mechanically to the roof. These were installed probably at the time of Holland's alterations.
Joseph Nollekens, The Innocent being carried to Heaven.
Van Dyck, by Rysbrack.
Charles Le Brun, By Coysevox.
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