Holkham Hall. The severely Palladian south facade with its Ionic portico is devoid of arms or motif; not even a blind window is allowed to break the void between the windows and roof-line, while the lower windows are mere piercings in the stark brickwork. The only hint of ornamentation is from the two terminating Venetian windows.

Holkham Hall, Norfolk, England, is an eighteenth century country house constructed in the Palladian style for Thomas Coke^[1] 1st Earl of Leicester^[2] by the architect William Kent with advice from the architect and aristocrat Lord Burlington. Burlington’s Chiswick House is the prototype for many of England’s Palladian revival houses. Holkham Hall, Norfolk. ... Holkham Hall, Norfolk. ... West facade of the Notre-Dame de Strasbourg Cathedral A facade (or façade) (Pronounced fa-sa-de) is generally the exterior of a building — especially the front, but also sometimes the sides and rear. ... Architects first real look at the Greek Ionic order: Julien David LeRoy, Les ruines plus beaux des monuments de la Grèce Paris, 1758 (Plate XX) Ionic order: 1 - entrablature, 2 - column, 3 - cornice, 4 - frieze, 5 - architrave or epistyle, 6 - capital (composed of abacus and volutes), 7 - shaft, 8... Categories: Architectural elements | Stub ... A villa with a superimposed portico, from Book IV of Palladios I Quattro Libri dellArchitettura, in a modestly priced English translation published in London, 1736. ... Norfolk (IPA: //) is a low-lying county in East Anglia in the east of southern England. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... A country house is a large dwelling, such as a mansion, located on a country estate. ... Palladian architecture is a European style of architecture derived from the designs of the Italian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). ... Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester, KB (1697–1759) was a wealthy English land-owner and patron of the arts. ... The Earl of Leicester was created in the 12th century as a title in the Peerage of England (title now extinct), and is currently a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, created in 1837. ... William Kent William Kent (born in Bridlington, Yorkshire, c. ... Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington and 4th Earl of Cork (April 25, 1694 – 1753) , born in Yorkshire, was a descendant of Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork. ... Chiswick House Chiswick House is a Palladian villa in Burlington Lane, Chiswick, London W4, England. ...

Holkham Hall is one of England’s finest examples of the Palladian revival style of architecture, the severity of the design being closer to Palladio’s ideals than many of the other numerous Palladian style houses of the period. The Holkham estate, formerly known as Neals, had been purchased in 1609 by Sir Edward Coke, the founder of the family fortune. It remains today the ancestral home of the Coke family, Earls of Leicester of Holkham. Andrea Palladio (November 30, 1508 – August 19, 1580), was an Italian architect, widely considered the most influential person in the history of Western architecture. ... Holkham is a civil parish in the north-west of the county of Norfolk, England, comprising a small village, a major stately home and estate, and an attractive beach. ... Estate: The term applies to land under ownership and as such is a generic term for a parcel of land held by an individual or family, common in early British Gentry. ... Sir Edward Coke Sir Edward Coke (pronounced cook) (1 February 1552 – 3 September 1634), was an early English colonial entrepreneur and jurist whose writings on the English common law were the definitive legal texts for some 300 years. ... An ancestor is a parent or (recursively) the parent of an ancestor (i. ... The Earl of Leicester was created in the 12th century as a title in the Peerage of England (title now extinct), and is currently a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, created in 1837. ...

[edit] Architects and patron

The builder of Holkham was Thomas Coke,^[3] later 1st Earl of Leicester, born in 1697. A cultivated, wealthy man, he had made the Grand Tour in his youth, being away from England for six years between 1712 and 1718. It is thought he first met Burlington, the aristocratic architect at the forefront of the Palladian revival movement in England, and William Kent in Italy in 1715; it is possible that there in the original home of Palladianism, the idea of a new mansion at Holkham was conceived. Returning to England with not only a newly acquired library but also art and sculpture collections with which to furnish the planned new mansion, Coke made disastrous investments in The South Sea Company. The resultant notorious losses when the South Sea Bubble burst in 1720 were to delay the building of Coke’s planned new country estate for over ten years. Coke, who had been created Earl of Leicester in 1744, died in 1759 five years before the completion of Holkham, having never fully recovered his financial losses. It was Thomas's wife Lady Margaret Tufton (1700-1775) Countess of Leicester who would oversee the completion of the House. The Earl of Leicester was created in the 12th century as a title in the Peerage of England (title now extinct), and is currently a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, created in 1837. ... The interior of the Pantheon in the 18th century, painted by Giovanni Paolo Panini In the 18th century, the Grand Tour was a kind of education for wealthy British noblemen, wherein the primary educational value was exposure to the cultured artifacts of antiquity and the Renaissance as well as the... Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington and 4th Earl of Cork (April 25, 1694 – 1753) , born in Yorkshire, was a descendant of Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork. ... This article is about the philosophical concept of Art. ... “Sculptor” redirects here. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Hogarthian image of the South Sea Bubble, by Edward Matthew Ward, Tate Gallery The South Sea Company (1711 – c1850s) was an English company granted a monopoly to trade with South America under a treaty with Spain. ...

Although Colen Campbell was employed by Thomas Coke in the early 1720s, the oldest existing working and construction plans for Holkham were drawn by Matthew Brettingham under the supervision of Thomas Coke, in 1726. These followed the guidelines and ideals for the house as defined by Kent and Burlington. The Palladian revival style chosen was at this time making its return in England. The style had made a brief appearance in England, before the Civil War, introduced by Inigo Jones, but following the Restoration had been replaced in popular favour by the Baroque style. The “Palladian revival”, popular in the 18th century, was loosely based on the appearance of the works of the 16th century Italian architect Andrea Palladio. It did not, however, adhere to his strict rules of proportion. The style eventually evolved into what is generally referred to as Georgian, still popular in England today. It was the chosen style for numerous houses in both town and country. Holkham is exceptional for its severity of design, and closer (than most) adherence to Palladio’s ideals. Palladian revival: Stourhead House, South facade, designed by Colen Campbell and completed in 1720. ... Holkham Hall. ... For other uses, see English Civil War (disambiguation). ... Inigo Jones, by Sir Anthony van Dyck Inigo Jones (July 15, 1573–June 21, 1652) is regarded as the first significant English architect. ... King Charles II, the first monarch to rule after the English Restoration. ... Baroque architecture, starting in the early 17th century in Italy, took the humanist Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical, theatrical, sculptural fashion, expressing the triumph of absolutist church and state. ... Andrea Palladio (November 30, 1508 – August 19, 1580), was an Italian architect, widely considered the most influential person in the history of Western architecture. ...

Thomas Coke, who masterminded the project, delegated the on-site architectural duties to the local Norfolk architect Matthew Brettingham, who was employed to be the on-site clerk of works. Brettingham also seems to have been the retained estate architect prior to this date. William Kent was mainly responsible for the interiors of the Southwest pavilion, or family wing block, particularly the Long Library. Kent also produced a variety of alternative exteriors, suggesting a far richer decoration than Thomas Coke wanted. In 1734, the foundations were begun, and building was to continue for thirty years until in 1764 the great house was completed.

[edit] The design of Holkham

Simplified, unscaled plan of the piano nobile at Holkham, (N.B. South is at the top of the plan) showing the four symmetrical wings at each corner of the principal block. 'A' Marble Hall; 'B' The Saloon; 'C' Statue Gallery, with circular tribunes at each end; 'D' Dining room (the classical apse, gives access to the tortuous and discreet route by which the food reached the dining room from the distant kitchen), 'E' The South Portico; 'F' The Library in the self-contained family wing.

The Palladian style was beloved by Whigs such as Thomas Coke, who liked to identify themselves with the Romans of antiquity. William Kent was responsible for the external appearance of Holkham. He based the design on Palladio’s unbuilt Villa Mocenigo, as it appears in his I Quattro Libri dell'Architettura, but with certain modifications. The plans for Holkham were of a large central block of two floors only, containing on the piano nobile level a series of symmetrically balanced state rooms situated around two courtyards. No hint of these courtyards is given externally; they are purely for lighting rather than recreation or architectural value. This great central block was in turn flanked by four smaller, rectangular blocks, or wings, and at each of its corners linked to the main house not by long colonnades as would have been the norm in Palladian architecture, but by short two-storey wings of only one bay. Simplified sketch plan, not to scale of original by William Kent circa 1735. ... Simplified sketch plan, not to scale of original by William Kent circa 1735. ... Kedleston Hall. ... Interior of the Hagia Sophia. ... The Whigs (with the Tories) are often described as one of two political parties in England and later the United Kingdom from the late 17th to the mid 19th centuries. ... Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew from a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula circa the 9th century BC to a massive empire straddling the Mediterranean Sea. ... Front page of a Ist Edition: I Quattro Libri dellArchitettura I Quattro Libri dellArchitettura (The four books of Architecture) was published in 1570, in four volumes written by the architect Andrea Palladio (1508-1580), whose name is identified with an architectural movement named after him, Palladianism. ... Kedleston Hall. ... A State Room in a large European mansion, is usually one of a suite of very grand rooms which were designed to impress, they were the most luxurious in the house and contained the finest works of art. ... A court or courtyard is an enclosed area, often a space enclosed by a building that is open to the sky. ... Enormous colonnade of the Kazan Cathedral in St Petersburg. ...

[edit] Music at Holkham Hall

On 31st August 2007, Girls Aloud are scheduled to play at Holkham Hall. On the very next day (1st September 2007), Status Quo are scheduled to play at Holkham Hall. There has been Music at Holkham Hall the year before (2006), when blues maestro Jools Holland and opera star Jose Carreras played at Holkham Hall. 2007 is only the second year “Music at Holkham Hall” has been running.

[edit] External appearance

The external appearance of Holkham can best be described as a huge Roman palace. However, as with most architectural designs, it is never quite that simple. Holkham is a Palladian house, and yet even by Palladian standards the external appearance of Holkham is austere and devoid of ornament (see illustration). The reasons for this can almost certainly be traced to Coke himself. The on-site, supervising architect of Holkham, Matthew Brettingham, related that Coke required and demanded “commodiousness”, which can be interpreted as comfort. Hence rooms that were adequately lit by one window, had only one, as a second may have improved the external appearance but would have made a room cold or draughty. As a result the few windows on the piano nobile, although symmetrically placed and balanced, appear lost in a sea of brickwork; albeit these yellow bricks were cast as exact replicas of ancient Roman bricks expressly for Holkham. Above the windows of the piano nobile, where on a true Palladian structure the windows of a mezzanine would be, there is nothing. The reason for this is the double height of the state rooms on the piano nobile; however, not even a blind window is permitted to alleviate the severity of the facade. On the ground floor, the rusticated walls are pierced by small windows more reminiscent of a prison than a grand house. One architectural commentator, Nigel Nicolson, has described the house as appearing as functional as a Prussian riding school. ‹ The template below (Expand) is being considered for deletion. ... The quintessential medieval European palace: Palais de la Cité, in Paris, the royal palace of France. ... In architecture, ornament is decorative detail on buildings. ... For other uses, see Brick (disambiguation). ... View of the ground floor of the Glaspaleis from the mezzanine View of the mezzanine in the lobby of the former Capitol Cinema, Ottawa, Canada In architecture, a mezzanine or entresol is an intermediate floor between main floors of a building, and therefore typically not counted among the overall floors... West facade of the Notre-Dame de Strasbourg Cathedral A facade (or façade) (Pronounced fa-sa-de) is generally the exterior of a building — especially the front, but also sometimes the sides and rear. ... For other uses of Rustication, see Rustication (disambiguation). ... Nigel Nicolson MBE (19 January 1917–23 September 2004) was a British writer, publisher and politician. ... For other uses, see Prussia (disambiguation). ...

Holkham Hall. Foreground right: One of the four identical secondary wings.

The principal, or South facade, is 344 feet (104.9 m) in length (from each of the flanking wings to the other), its austerity relieved on the piano nobile level only by a great six-columned portico. Each end of the central block is terminated by a slight projection, containing a Venetian window surmounted by a single storey square tower and capped roof, similar to those employed by Inigo Jones at Wilton House nearly a century earlier. Interestingly, a near identical portico was designed by Inigo Jones and Isaac de Caus for the Palladian front at Wilton, but this was never executed. Holkham Hall, Norfolk. ... Holkham Hall, Norfolk. ... A foot (plural: feet or foot;[1] symbol or abbreviation: ft or, sometimes, ′ – a prime) is a unit of length, in a number of different systems, including English units, Imperial units, and United States customary units. ... This article is about the unit of length. ... For other uses, see Column (disambiguation). ... Categories: Architectural elements | Stub ... A villa with a superimposed portico, from Book IV of Palladios I Quattro Libri dellArchitettura, in a modestly priced English translation published in London, 1736. ... Inigo Jones, by Sir Anthony van Dyck Inigo Jones (July 15, 1573–June 21, 1652) is regarded as the first significant English architect. ... Jones and de Causs South Front and the Palladian Bridge (1736/7), in a view of circa 1820 Wilton House is an English country house situated at Wilton near Salisbury in Wiltshire. ... Isaac de Caus (1590 - 1648) was a French landscaper, and architect. ...

The flanking wings (illustrated right), (south-west is the family wing, north-west the guest wing, south-east the chapel wing & north-east the kitchen wing), are externally identical: three bays, each separated from the other by a narrow recess in the elevation. Each of the three bays is surmounted by an unadorned pediment. The composition of stone, recesses, pediments and chimneys of the four blocks is almost reminiscent of the English Baroque style in favour ten years earlier, employed by Sir John Vanbrugh at Seaton Delaval Hall. One of these wings, as at the later Kedleston Hall, was a self-contained country house to accommodate the family when the state rooms and central block were not in use. A pediment is a classical architectural element consisting of a triangular section or gable found above the horizontal superstructure (entablature) which lies immediately upon the columns. ... Greenwich Hospital: Sir Christopher Wren, 1694. ... Sir John Vanbrugh in Godfrey Knellers Kit-cat portrait, considered one of Knellers finest portraits. ... Seaton Delaval Hall, drawn before completion, as Vanbrugh envisaged the house. ... Kedleston Hall was Brettinghams opportunity to prove himself capable of designing a house to rival Holkham Hall. ...

In the 1850s Samuel Sanders Teulon designed the one storey porch at the main north entrance, although stylistically it is indistinguishable from the 18th century building. Samuel Sanders Teulon (1812-1873) was a notable English architect of the 19th century. ...

[edit] Interior

Inside the House, the Palladian form reaches a height and grandeur seldom seen in any other house in England—a deliberate contrast to the austere facades. What is remarkable is that this unique grandeur is obtained with an absence of excessive ornament. Work on the interiors ran from 1739 to 1773, the first habitable rooms were in the family wing and were in use from 1740, the Long Library being the first major interior completed, among the last to be completed and entirely under Lady Leicester's supervision is the Chapel with its alabaster reredos. The house is entered through the “Marble” Hall (the chief building fabric is in fact Derbyshire alabaster), modelled by Kent on a Roman basilica. The room is 50 feet (15.2 m) from floor to ceiling and is dominated by the broad white marble flight of steps leading to the surrounding gallery, or peristyle: here alabaster Ionic columns support the gilded coffered-ceiling, copied from a design by Inigo Jones, inspired by the Pantheon in Rome. The fluted columns are thought to be replicas of those in the Temple of Fortuna Virilis, also in Rome. Around the hall are statues in niches; these are predominantly plaster copies of ancient classical deities. An altar and reredos from University Church, Dublin A reredos is a screen or decoration behind the altar in a church, usually depicting religious iconography or images. ... Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. ... A modern uplighter lamp made completely from Italian alabaster (white and brown types). ... St. ... In Roman architecture a peristyle is a columned porch or open colonnade in a building that surrounds a court that may contain an internal garden. ... Architects first real look at the Greek Ionic order: Julien David LeRoy, Les ruines plus beaux des monuments de la Grèce Paris, 1758 (Plate XX) Ionic order: 1 - entrablature, 2 - column, 3 - cornice, 4 - frieze, 5 - architrave or epistyle, 6 - capital (composed of abacus and volutes), 7 - shaft, 8... Coffering on the ceiling of the Pantheon, Rome In architecture, a coffer is (plural: coffering) is a sunken panel in the shape of a square or octagon that serves as a decorative device, usually in a ceiling. ... Facade of the Pantheon The Pantheon (Latin Pantheon[1], from Greek Πάνθεον Pantheon, meaning Temple of all the gods) is a building in Rome which was originally built as a temple to the seven deities of the seven planets in the state religion of Ancient Rome. ... Nickname: Motto: SPQR: Senatus Populusque Romanus Location of the city of Rome (yellow) within the Province of Rome (red) and region of Lazio (grey) Coordinates: Region Lazio Province Province of Rome Founded 21 April 753 BC Government  - Mayor Walter Veltroni Area  - City 1,285 km²  (580 sq mi)  - Urban 5... In Roman mythology, Portunes (alternatively spelled Portumnes or Portunus) was a god of keys and doors and livestock. ...

The hall’s flight of steps lead to the piano nobile and state rooms. The grandest, the saloon, is situated immediately behind the great portico, with its walls lined with patterned red Genoa velvet and a coffered, gilded ceiling. In this room hangs Rubens’s Return from Egypt. On his Grand Tour, the 1st Earl acquired a collection of Roman copies of Greek and Roman sculpture which is contained in the massive “Statue Gallery”, which runs the full length of the house north to south. The North Dining Room, a cube room of 27 feet (8.2 m) contains an Axminster carpet that perfectly mirrors the pattern of the ceiling above. A bust of Aelius Verus, set in a niche in the wall of this room, was found during the restoration at Nettuno. A classical apse gives the room an almost temple air. The apse in fact contains concealed access to the labyrinth of corridors and narrow stairs that lead to the distant kitchens and service areas of the house. Each corner of the east side of the principal block contains a square salon lit by a huge Venetian window, one of them — the Landscape Room — hung with paintings by Claude Lorrain and Gaspar Poussin. All of the major state rooms have symmetrical walls, even where this involves matching real with false doors. The major rooms also have elaborate white & multi-coloured marble fireplaces most with carvings and sculpture, the work of Thomas Carter. Much of the furniture in the state rooms was also designed by William Kent, in a stately classicising baroque manner. For other uses, see Genoa (disambiguation). ... Swatch of black cotton velvet decorator fabric used for drapery Velvet is a type of tufted fabric in which the cut threads are very evenly distributed, with a short dense pile, giving it its distinct feel. ... Coffering on the ceiling of the Pantheon, Rome In architecture, a coffer is (plural: coffering) is a sunken panel in the shape of a square or octagon that serves as a decorative device, usually in a ceiling. ... Peter Paul Rubens (June 28, 1577 – May 30, 1640) was a prolific seventeenth-century Flemish and European painter, and a proponent of an exuberant Baroque style that emphasized movement, color, and sensuality. ... The interior of the Pantheon in the 18th century, painted by Giovanni Paolo Panini In the 18th century, the Grand Tour was a kind of education for wealthy British noblemen, wherein the primary educational value was exposure to the cultured artifacts of antiquity and the Renaissance as well as the... “Sculptor” redirects here. ... Location within the British Isles Arms of Axminster Town Council Axminster is a small market town on the eastern border of Devon, England. ... A mirror, reflecting a vase. ... Bust of Richard Bently by Roubiliac A bust is a sculpture depicting a persons chest, shoulders, and head, usually supported by a stand. ... Lucius Aelius Verus (??? - January 1, 138) (born Lucius Ceionius Commodus) became the adopted son, and intended successor, of Emperor Hadrian (January 24, 76 _ July 10, 138), but never attained the throne. ... Florentine Renaissance painter Filippo Lippi placed his Madonna of the 1440s within a simulated shell-headed niche The niche in classical architecture is an exedra or an apse that has been reduced in size, retaining the half-dome heading usual for an apse. ... Nettuno is a town and commune of the province of Rome in the Lazio region of central Italy, 60 kilometers south of Rome. ... This article is about an architectural feature; for the astronomical term see apsis. ... Claude Lorrain. ... Gaspar Poussin, born Gaspar Dughet (1613 - May 27, 1675) was a painter. ...

So restrained is the interior decoration of the state rooms, or in the words of James Lees-Milne, “chaste”, that the smaller, more intimate rooms in the family’s private south-west wing were decorated in similar vein, without being overpowering. The long library running the full length of the wing still contains the collection of books acquired by Thomas Coke on his Grand Tour through Italy, where he saw for the first time the Palladian villas which were to inspire Holkham. James Lees-Milne (1908-1997) was an English writer and expert on country houses. ... For other uses, see Library (disambiguation). ... The Albertian Villa Medici in Fiesole: terraced grounds on a sloping site. ...

[edit] Art Collections

Uniquely the house was designed around the art collection acquired (a few works were commissioned) by Thomas Coke during his Grand Tour of Italy during 1712–18. To complete the scheme it was necessary to send Matthew Brettingham the younger to Italy between 1745–54 to purchase further works of art. Much thought went into the placing of sculptures and paintings, involving subtle connections and contrasts in the mythological and historical characters and stories depicted.

The works collected in Italy include: sculpture, paintings, mosaics, books, manuscripts and Old Master Drawings (most of which have been sold). The books included one of Leonardo da Vinci’s note books now known as the Codex Leicester which was sold from the collection in 1980. “Da Vinci” redirects here. ... The Codex Leicester is a collection of largely scientific writings by Leonardo da Vinci. ...

The collection of 57 Ancient Roman marble sculptures is amongst the finest in any private collection in the world. The collection consists of both life size and greater than life size statues and busts of Roman deities and ancient Romans, plus other sculptures. Most have been repaired to varying extents. The full length statues are mainly displayed in the Sculpture Gallery along with busts which are also to be found through out the State Rooms. Sarcophagus with battle scene between Romans and Germans. ...

[edit] Sculpture

The Sculpture Gallery is a tripartite room over 100 feet long, consisting of two plain-domed octagonal tribunes with elaborate entablatures and are linked by arches to the coffered-apses at either end of the rectangular central room. The Northern Tribune has large niches in the corners that extent down to floor level to take large sculptures on plinths, there are busts in the open pediments above the two doors. The Southern Tribune has bookcases in the corners, which like the doors have open pediments to take busts, above the window in plaster is the year 1753. The statue niches in the central room rise from dado level, two in each of the apses and three either side of the fireplace the central one of which is larger than the flanking ones. The elaborately carved chimneypiece of white marble with coloured panel, is surmounted by a niche with a carved pedimented frame, all the other niches are plain. The busts sit on brackets projecting from the walls, the central palladian window is framed by elaborate corinthian columns and pilasters, the room has a gilt cornice around the plain ceiling. Interior of the Hagia Sophia. ... An entablature is a classical architectural element, the superstructure which lies horizontally above the columns, resting on their capitals. ... A pediment is a classical architectural element consisting of a triangular section or gable found above the horizontal superstructure (entablature) which lies immediately upon the columns. ... The lower part of a wall, below the dado rail and above the skirting board. ... Palladian architecture is a European style of architecture derived from the designs of the Italian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). ... The Corinthian order as used for the portico of the Pantheon, Rome provided a prominent model for Renaissance and later architects, through the medium of engravings. ... In architecture, pilasters comprise slightly-projecting pseudo-columns built into or onto a wall, with capitals and bases. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Geison. ...

The Roman statues include:

• Southern apse of the Sculpture Gallery: Satyrs one playing a flute & one wearing a pigskin.
• South of the Sculpture Gallery fireplace: Meleager, Marsyas & Poseidon/Neptune.
• Above the Sculpture Gallery fireplace: Apollo.
• North of the Scupture Gallery fireplace: Dionysus/Bacchus, Artemis/Diana & Aphrodite/Venus.
• Northern apse of the Sculpture Gallery: Athena/Minerva and Demeter/Ceres.
• North Tribune: Isis, Livia, statue repaired with a head of Lucius Verus & unidentified man wearing a toga.
• Marble Hall in the niches of the apse: statue repaired with a head of Septimus Severus, Satyr playing cymbals, an Ephebos restored as a Satyr & a heavily restored statue of Julia Mamaea.
• Private Rooms: Isis-Fortuna and a torso of a draped male.

The Roman busts include depictions/portraits of: A bald, bearded, horse-tailed satyr balances a winecup on his erect penis, a trick worthy of note, on an Attic red-figured psykter, ca. ... This article is about the mythological figure, for the Macedonian king see Meleager (king). ... In Greek mythology, Marsyas was a satyr who challenged Apollo to a contest of music. ... Neptune reigns in the city of Bristol. ... For other uses, see Apollo (disambiguation). ... This article is about the ancient deity. ... For other uses, see Artemis (disambiguation). ... The Birth of Venus, (detail) by Sandro Botticelli, 1485 For other uses, see Aphrodite (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Athena (disambiguation). ... This article is about the grain goddess Demeter. ... This article discusses the ancient goddess Isis. ... Livia Drusilla, after 14 AD called Livia Augusta (Classical Latin: LIVIA•DRVSILLA, later LIVIA•AVGVSTA[1]) (58 BC-AD 29) was the wife of Caesar Augustus (also known as Octavian) and the most powerful woman in the early Roman Empire, acting several times as regent and being Augustus faithful advisor. ... Lucius Ceionius Commodus Verus Armeniacus (December 15, 130 – 169), known simply as Lucius Verus, was Roman co-emperor with Marcus Aurelius (161–180), from 161 until his death. ... Emperor Septimius Severus Lucius Septimius Severus, (April 11, 146 - February 4, 211) was Roman emperor from April 9, 193 to 211. ... Ephebos (often in the plural epheboi), also anglicized as ephebe, is a Greek word for an adolescent age group or a social status reserved for that age in Antiquity. ... Julia Avita Mamaea (180- 235) was the daughter of Julia Maesa, a powerful Roman woman of Syrian origin, and Julius Avitus. ... Fortuna governs the circle of the four stages of life, the Wheel of Fortune, in a manuscript of Carmina Burana In Roman mythology, Fortuna (equivalent to the Greek goddess Tyche) goddess of fortune, was the personification of luck, hopefully of good luck, but she could be represented veiled and blind... Bust of Richard Bently by Roubiliac A bust is a sculpture depicting a persons chest, shoulders, and head, usually supported by a stand. ...

• The Sculpture Gallery: Flanking the northern apse Lucius Cornelius Sulla & Thucydides, flanking the southern apse Lucius Junius Brutus & Pseudo-Seneca, between the windows an unidentified man and a woman (these last two are not part of Thomas Coke's arrangment of the sculptures).
• North Tribune: Above the doors, Emperor Philip as a youth & Empress Faustina the Elder.
• The South Tribune: Above the doors and bookcases, Hadrian, Julia Mamaea, Julia di Tito, Caesar Marcus Aurelius, Gallienus & Geta.
• The North Dining Room: In oval niches above the fireplaces, in Aelius Verus & Juno, flanking the apse Marcus Aurelius & Caesar Geta.
• The Saloon: Above the central door Juno.
• Long Library: Above the bookcases Venus, Cybele & A Vestal Virgin.
• Private Rooms: Zeus, Dionysus, Artemis, the Goddess Roma, Nerva, Plato, Caracalla, Gordian III, Maecenas.

Other Roman sculptures include: Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (Latin: L•CORNELIVS•L•F•P•N•SVLLA•FELIX)[1] (ca. ... Bust of Thucydides residing in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto. ... This article is about the founder of the Roman Republic . ... Roman bronze bust, the so-called Pseudo-Seneca, now generally identified as an imaginative portrait of Hesiod (Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples) The so-called Pseudo-Seneca is a Roman bronze bust of the late first century BCE that was discovered at Herculaneum in 1754, the finest example of about two... Marcus Julius Philippus (c. ... Annia Galeria Faustina, better known as Faustina the Elder, (died c. ... Publius Aelius Traianus Hadrianus (January 24, 76 –– July 10, 138), known as Hadrian in English, was emperor of Rome from 117 A.D. to 138 A.D., as well as a Stoic and Epicurean philosopher. ... Julia Avita Mamaea (180- 235) was the daughter of Julia Maesa, a powerful Roman woman of Syrian origin, and Julius Avitus. ... Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus (Rome, April 26, 121[2] – Vindobona or Sirmium, March 17, 180) was Roman Emperor from 161 to his death in 180 . ... Gallienus depicted on a lead seal Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus (218-268) ruled the Roman Empire as co-emperor with his father Valerian from 253 to 260, and then as the sole Roman Emperor from 260 to 268. ... Geta can be either: Geta, Åland - a Municipality in Finland. ... Lucius Aelius Verus (??? - January 1, 138) (born Lucius Ceionius Commodus) became the adopted son, and intended successor, of Emperor Hadrian (January 24, 76 _ July 10, 138), but never attained the throne. ... // Juno may refer to: Juno (mythology), a major Roman goddess June, the month named after Juno Juno (band), an American indie rock band Juno (musical), a Broadway musical with score by Marc Blitzstein based on Sean OCaseys play Juno and the Paycock Juno Reactor, a trance music project... Marble Venus of the Capitoline Venus type, Roman (British Museum) Venus was a major Roman goddess principally associated with love and beauty, the rough equivalent of the Greek goddess Aphrodite. ... Originally a Phrygian goddess, Cybele (Greek: Κυβέλη) was a deification of the Earth Mother who was worshipped in Anatolia from Neolithic times. ... Image of a Roman Vestal Virgin In Ancient Rome, the Vestal Virgins (sacerdos Vestalis), were the virgin holy priestesses of Vesta, the goddess of the hearth. ... For other uses, see Zeus (disambiguation). ... This article is about the ancient deity. ... For other uses, see Artemis (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Nerva (disambiguation). ... PLATO was one of the first generalized Computer assisted instruction systems, originally built by the University of Illinois (U of I) and later taken over by Control Data Corporation (CDC), who provided the machines it ran on. ... Caracalla (April 4, 186 – April 8, 217) was Roman Emperor from 211 – 217. ... Marcus Antonius Gordianus Pius (January 20, 225 - February 11, 244), known in English as Gordian III, was Roman Emperor from 238 to 244. ... Gaius or Cilnius Maecenas (70 - 8 BC) was a confidant and political advisor to Augustus Caesar, as well as an important sponsor of young poets. ...

• The Sculpture Gallery: Between Apollo and the fireplace relief of Julius Caesar in profile.
• Private Rooms: Profile relief of Carneades, A statuette of the Nile river god, Altar of Caius Calpurnius Cognitus, Cinerarium of Petronius Hedychrus, Sarcophagus of T. Flabius Hermetes, Marble Oscillum depicting a cavorting satyr & A Herma.

There are several sculptures dating from the Post-Roman era: For other uses, see Julius Caesar (disambiguation). ... Carneades (c. ... The Nile (Arabic: , transliteration: , Ancient Egyptian iteru, Coptic piaro or phiaro) is a major north-flowing river in Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. ... Look up Altar in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The Etruscan Sarcophagus of the Spouses, at the National Etruscan Museum. ... Oscilla, a word applied in Latin usage to small figures, most commonly masks or faces, which were hung up as offerings to various deities, either for propitiation or expiation, and in connection with festivals and other ceremonies. ... Herma of Demosthenes on the market place of Athens, work by Polyeuktos, ca. ...

• The Marble Hall contains a series of plaster casts of sculptures of in the niches of east wall: Apollo, St. Susanna, A satyr, Isis, in the niches of the west wall: Aphrodite, Hermes, Flora, Urania, plus Louis-François Roubiliac's bust of Thomas Coke, Francis Chantrey's bust of 'Coke of Norfolk' and a set of four marble reliefs in the apse between the niches: Thomas Banks's The Death of Germanicus, Richard Westmacott's Death of Socrates, Stoldo Lorenzi's Lorenzo I & Francis Chantrey's The Passing of the Reform Bill 1832.
• The Drawing Room: Marble copies of busts of Marcus Aurelius and Caracalla on the mantlepiece, and plaster busts of Faustina, Carneades, Pythagoras & Zeno above the doors.
• The South Dining Room: Four plaster busts above the doors.
• The Long Library: above a bookcase a marble bust of Alexander Pope.
• Private Rooms: A series of 18th century marble copies of ancient busts, including: Homer & Alexander the Great, and plaster casts of statues including Ganymede, Venus de' Medici, A Camillus & Apollo Belvedere.

Catacomb of Saints Marcellinus and Peter on the Via Labicana. ... For other uses, see Hermes (disambiguation). ... In Roman mythology, Flora was a goddess of flowers and the season of spring. ... Simon Vouet, The Muses Urania and Calliope, c. ... Louis-François Roubiliac (more correctly Roubillac) (1695 - January 11, 1762), French sculptor, was born at Lyons and became a pupil of Balthasar of Dresden and of Nicolas Coustou. ... Sir Francis Legatt Chantrey (April 7, 1782–November 25, 1841), was an English sculptor of the Georgian era. ... Thetis rising from the sea, 1778, from the Victoria and Albert Museum Thomas Banks (December 29, 1735 — February 2, 1805), English sculptor, son of a surveyor who was land steward to the Duke of Beaufort, was born in London. ... Germanicus Julius Caesar Claudianus (24 May 15 BC–October 10, 19) was a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty of the early Roman Empire. ... Sir Richard Westmacott, Jr. ... This page is about the Classical Greek philosopher. ... Stoldo Lorenzi (1534 - after 1583) was an Italian Mannerist sculptor. ... For other uses, see Lorenzo de Medici (disambiguation). ... The Representation of the People Act 1832, commonly known as the Reform Act 1832, was an Act of Parliament that introduced wide-ranging changes to the electoral system of the United Kingdom. ... Faustina the Younger Annia Galeria Faustina, the Younger, (c. ... Pythagoras of Samos (Greek: ; between 580 and 572 BC–between 500 and 490 BC) was an Ionian (Greek) philosopher[1] and founder of the religious movement called Pythagoreanism. ... Zeno of Citium Zeno of Citium (The Stoic) (sometime called Zeno Apathea) (333 BC-264 BC) was a Hellenistic philosopher from Citium, Cyprus. ... For other uses, see Alexander Pope (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Homer (disambiguation). ... For the film of the same name, see Alexander the Great (1956 film). ... The Rape of Ganymede, by Rubens In Greek mythology, Ganymede, or closer to the Greek Ganymede the great man that leads (in Greek — Γανυμήδης, Ganumēdēs) was a divine hero whose homeland was the Troad. ... The Venus de Medici The Venus de Medici or Medici Venus is a lifesize (1. ... The name Camillus has multiple uses Ancient Rome In ancient Rome, a camillus (fem. ... The Apollo Belvedere, also called the Pythian Apollo, is a celebrated marble sculpture from Classical Antiquity. ...

[edit] Paintings

The present Earl has restored the paintings to the positions designed for them (although Titian's Venus and the Lute Player was sold in the 1930's and is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art): Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio (c. ... Metropolitan Museum of Art New York Elevation The Metropolitan Museum of Art, often referred to simply as the Met, is one of the worlds largest and most important art museums. ...

• The Drawing Room: above the fireplace Pietro da Pietri's Madonna in Gloria, two works by Melchior d'Hondecoeter flanking the fireplace of fighting birds, left of the fireplace Gaspar Poussin's The Storm & above the doors four landscapes by Jan Frans van Bloemen, right of the fireplace Claude Lorrain's Apollo flaying Marsyas, in the centre of the east wall Jonathan Richardson's portrait of Thomas Coke 1st Earl of Leicester in the robes of the Order of the Bath & in the centre of the west wall Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger's portrait of Sir Edward Coke founder of the family's fortune.

• The Saloon: in the centre of the west wall Peter Paul Rubens The Return of the Holy Family, in the centre of the east wall Anthony Van Dyck’s Duc D’Arenburg on Horseback, above the fireplaces Andrea Procaccini’s Tarquin Raping Lucretia & Giuseppe Bartolomeo Chiari’s Perseus and Andromeda, above the western doors two portraits by Carlo Maratta & above the eastern doors Agostino Scilla's paintings of Summer and Winter.

• The South Dining Room: in the centre of the east wall Guido Reni’s Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife, above the eastern doors Cristoforo Roncalli's Pope Julius II & Sir Peter Lely's portrait of Edmund Waller, above the fireplace Thomas Gainsborough’s portrait of Coke of Norfolk, left of the fireplace A Naked Venus in the style of Titian, left and right of the fireplace two works by Gaspar Poussin’s A Stormy Landscape & A classical landscape with reclining figures, right of the fireplace Melchior d'Hondecoeter’s Bird painting, in the centre of the west wall Pompeo Batoni's portrait of Coke of Norfolk, above the western doors school of Holbein Sir Thomas More & School of Titian A Venetian Lady.

• The Landscape Room: Luca Giordano's Saint John the Baptist Preaching, all the other paintings in the room are landscapes, five works by Gaspar Poussin, seven works by Claude Lorraine, two works by Claude Joseph Vernet, one work by Salvator Rosa, two works by Andrea Locatelli, two works by Jan Frans van Bloemen, one work by Giovanni Francesco Grimaldi & one work by Domenico Zampieri.

• The Green State Bedroom: above the fireplace Gavin Hamilton's Jupiter caressing Juno & above the four doors paintings by Francesco Zuccarelli depicting the seasons.

• The Green State Dressing Room includes: small scale works by Jacopo Bassano, Sebastiano Conca, Carlo Maratta & Gaspar van Wittel.

• The North State Dressing Room: above the chimney piece Bastiano da Sangallo's copy of Michelangelo's destroyed cartoon of Florentines surprised by the Pisans while bathing & Annibale Carracci's Galatea and Polyphemus

• The North State Bedroom: Jonathan Richardson's portrait of Lady Margaret Tufton countess of Leicester & Edward Viscount Coke, Jonathan Richardson's portrait of Thomas Coke 1st Earl of Leicester & portrait of William Heveningham (he was Thomas Coke's grandfather).

• The Chapel: the east wall above the altar Guido Reni's The Assumption of the Virgin flanked by Giovanni Battista Cipriani's two paintings of St. Anne & St. Cecila, in the west gallery, Carlo Maratta's Virgin Holding a Book, 16th century Head of Christ by an unknown painter of the Milanese School, above the fireplace Giorgio Vasari's portrait of Pope Leo X, Bernardino Luini's Holy Family with St John the Baptist, Francesco Mazzuola's Penitent Magdalen, in the manner of van Dyke Archbishop Laud, the south wall Mattia Preti's The Adoration of the Magi, Andrea Sacchi's Abraham, Hagar and Ishmael, Giovanni Lanfranco's he Angel appearing to Joseph, on the north wall Carlo Maratta's The Virgin reading with St. John, Pietro da Cortona's A scriptural piece from the history of Jacob.

• The private rooms contain many paintings, including in Lady Leicester's Sitting Room: Canaletto's View of the Palace of St Mark, Venice, with preparations for the Doge's Wedding in the overmantle & four views of Rome by Gaspar van Wittel. Elsewhere are Francesco Trevisani's portrait of Thomas Coke on his Grand Tour, Andrea Casali's portraits of Thomas Coke and his wife and Rosalba Carriera's portraits of Edward Viscount Coke and his wife Lady Mary Coke.

Pietro da Pietri (1663[1]-1708, 1716[2], or 1721) was an Italian painter of the late-Baroque period, active mainly in Rome. ... Melchior dHondecoeter (c. ... Jan Frans van Bloemen (1662-1740), Flemish painter, was born at Antwerp, and studied and lived in Italy. ... Badge of a Companion of the Order of the Bath (Military Division) Ribbon of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath (formerly The Most Honourable Military Order of the Bath)[1] is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on May 18, 1725. ... // A painter from Flanders, Belgium who worked in England Marcus Gheeraerts was born in Bruges in 1561 or 1562, and was brought to England in 1568 by his father, a painter of whose work hardly anything is known. ... Peter Paul Rubens (June 28, 1577 – May 30, 1640) was a prolific seventeenth-century Flemish and European painter, and a proponent of an exuberant Baroque style that emphasized movement, color, and sensuality. ... Self Portrait With a Sunflower Sir Anthony (Anton) van Dyck (22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Flemish artist who became the leading court painter in England. ... Andrea Procaccini (January 14, 1671-1734) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active in Rome as well as in Spain. ... Lucius Tarquinius Superbus (also called Tarquin the Proud or Tarquin II) was the last of the seven legendary kings of Rome, son of Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, and son-in-law of Servius Tullius. ... Death of Lucretia by Sandro Botticelli Lucretia is a legendary figure in the history of the Roman Republic. ... Giuseppe Bartolomeo Chiari (also known simply as Giuseppe Chiari; 10 March 1654- 8 September 1727) was an Italian painter of the late-Baroque period, active mostly in Rome. ... Perseus with the head of Medusa, by Antonio Canova, completed 1801 (Vatican Museums) Perseus, Perseos, or Perseas (Greek: Περσεύς, Περσέως, Περσέας), the legendary founder of Mycenae and of the Perseid dynasty there, and was the hero who killed Medusa. ... See Andromeda (disambiguation) for other uses of Andromeda. Andromeda Chained to the Rock by the Nereids (1840) Théodore Chassériau, Louvre Andromeda was a Greek mythological figure who was chained to a rock to be eaten by a sea monster and was saved by Perseus, whom she later married. ... Agostino Scilla (August 10, 1629-May 31, 1700) was an Italian painter, paleontologist, geologist, and pioneer in the study of fossils. ... Autoportrait Abduction of Deianira, 1620-21 Guido Reni (November 4, 1575, Calvenzano di Vergato, near Bologna - August 18, 1642, Bologna) was a prominent Italian painter of high-Baroque style. ... Cristoforo Roncalli (ca. ... Pope Julius II (December 5, 1443 – February 21, 1513), born Giuliano della Rovere, was Pope from 1503 to 1513. ... Sir Peter Lely (14 September 1618 - 30 November 1680) was a painter of Dutch origin. ... Edmund Waller (March 3, 1606 – October 21, 1687) was an English poet. ... Thomas Gainsborough (14 May 1727 (baptised) – 2 August 1788) was one of the most famous portrait and landscape painters of 18th century Britain. ... Thomas William Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester (6 May 1754 – 30 June 1842) became famous for his advanced methods of animal husbandry used in improving his estate at Holkham in Norfolk. ... Gaspar Poussin, born Gaspar Dughet (1613 - May 27, 1675) was a painter. ... Melchior dHondecoeter (c. ... Portrait of Charles Crowle Pompeo Girolamo Batoni (1708-1787), Italian painter, was born at Lucca. ... The creation of man, fresco in the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi in Florence, 1684-1686. ... Gaspar Poussin, born Gaspar Dughet (1613 - May 27, 1675) was a painter. ... Seaport by Claude Lorrain Claude Lorrain (Lorraine, c1604 - Rome, November 23, 1682) was a French painter considered to be one of the greatest landscape painters. ... Joseph Vernet, by Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun. ... self-portrait by Salvator Rosa, 1640. ... Andrea Locatelli (1695-1741) was an Italian painter of landscapes (vedute). ... Giovanni Francesco Grimaldi (1606 - November 28, 1680), Italian architect and painter, named Il Bolognese from the place of his birth, was a relative of the Caracci family, under whom it is presumed he studied first. ... Domenico Zampieri (or Domenichino) (October 21, 1581 - April 15, 1641), was a prominent high Baroque painter of the Bolognese or Carracci School of Painters. ... Gavin Hamilton by Ozias Humphry, 1778, pencil, NGS Gavin Hamilton (1723, Lanark - January 4, 1798, Rome) was a Scottish neoclassical history painter, who is more widely remembered for his hunts for antiquities in the neighborhood of Rome. ... Francesco Zuccarelli (1702-1788), Italian painter, was born at Pitigliano in Tuscany, and studied in Rome under Onesi, Morandi, and Nelli. ... Jacopos The Last Supper Jacopo Bassano (also known as Giacomo da Ponte, c. ... Sebastiano Conca (1679 - 1764), Italian painter of the Florentine school, was born at Gaeta, and studied at Naples under Francesco Solimena. ... Carlo Maratta was an Italian painter of the Baroque era. ... The Castel SantAngelo from the South by Caspar van Wittel, from the 1690s Caspar Adriaans van Wittel (also Gaspar, Gasparo degli Occhiali) (1653, Amersfoort - Sep 13, 1736, Rome) was a Dutch landscape painter. ... Bastiano da Sangallo (1481– May 31, 1551) was an Italian sculptor and painter of the Renaissance period, active mainly in Tuscany. ... For other uses, see Michelangelo (disambiguation). ... Self-portrait, (Uffizi) Annibale Carracci (November 3, 1560 - July 15, 1609) was an Italian Baroque painter. ... Galatea (she who is milk-white) was the name of two figures in Greek mythology. ... For the collection of short stories by Michael Shea, see Polyphemus (book). ... William Heveningham (1604-78) was one of the Regicides of Charles I of England. ... Giovanni Battista Cipriani (1727–1785), Italian painter and engraver, Pistoiese by descent, was born in Florence. ... Giorgio Vasaris selfportrait Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Giorgio Vasari Giorgio Vasari (Arezzo, Tuscany July 3, 1511 - Florence, June 27, 1574) was an Italian painter and architect, mainly known for his famous biographies of Italian artists. ... Pope Leo X, born Giovanni di Lorenzo de Medici (11 December 1475 – 1 December 1521) was Pope from 1513 to his death. ... Bernardino Luini (1482-1532) was an Italian painter. ... Archbishop William Laud (October 7, 1573 – January 10, 1645) was Archbishop of Canterbury and a fervent supporter of King Charles I of England, whom he encouraged to believe in divine right. ... Mattia Preti (1613-1699) was a Italian Baroque artist who worked in Italy and Malta. ... Andrea Sacchi (born around 1600 (maybe 1598) at Nettuno near Rome; died 1661 at Nettuno) was an Italian painter of the later Roman school. ... Giovanni Lanfranco (born: 26 January 1582, Parma, Italy - died: 30 November 1647, Rome) was an Italian baroque painter. ... Pietro da Cortona, byname of Pietro Berettini (November 1, 1596- May 16, 1669) was a prolific artist and architect of High Baroque. ... The Stonemasons Yard, painted 1726-30. ... Portait of Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni by Francesco Trevisani. ... Andrea Casali (c. ... Rosalba Carriera, self-portrait 1715 Rosalba Carriera (October 7, 1675 – April 15, 1757) was a Venetian Rococo painter. ...

[edit] Furnishings

• The North Dining Room: a large classical style porphyry table from Italy in the apse and an elaborate silver candelabra over three feet in height.
• The Saloon: two side tables whose tops are covered by geometrical mosaics from Hadrian's Villa and between the windows mirrors with elaborately carved & gilt frames combined with girandoles and matching pier-tables below.
• The Green State Bedroom: tapestries of the four continents, Asia is a Mortlake tapestry, Europe, America & Africa are Brussel's tapestries, there are also two small Mortlake tapestries of Sleep & Vigilance, the canopied bed and most of the furniture is to designs by William Kent.
• The North State Bedchamber: has a table with a top made from a mosaic from Hadrian's Villa.
• The State Sitting Room: 17th century Brussel's tapestries designed by Peemans, depicting the tweleve months of the year.
• The Long Library: contains 2,000 of the 10,500 books bought by Thomas Coke (the collection has around 15,000 books in total) and the overmantle of the chimneypiece has a mosaic from Hadrian's Villa depicting a lion fighting a leopard.
• The Venetian Room (in the guest wing): has 18th century tapestries with a pastoral theme with playing cupids.

Porphyry is a very hard igneous rock consisting of large-grained crystals, such as feldspar or quartz, dispersed in a fine-grained feldspathic matrix or groundmass. ... Mosaic is the art of decoration with small pieces of colored glass, stone or other material. ... The villas recreation of Canopus, a resort near Alexandria, as seen from the temple of Serapis Theatrical masks of Tragedy and Comedy in refined mosaic, from the villa (Capitoline Museum, Rome) The Villa of the Emperor Hadrian at Tivoli, Italy, even in ruined condition is one of the most... Girandole (from the Italian girandola) is an ornamental branched candlestick of several lights. ... This article is about tapestry the textile. ... Mortlake is a part of south west London between Sheen and Barnes and bounded by the river Thames to the north. ... For other uses, see Brussels (disambiguation). ...

[edit] Park & Gardens

Work to the designs of William Kent on the Park commenced in 1729, several years before the house was constructed. This event was commemorated by the construction in 1730 of the obelisk, 80 feet in height, standing on the highest point in the Park, it is located over half a mile to the south and on axis with the centre of the House. An avenue of trees stretches over a mile south of the obelisk. Thousands of trees were planted on what had been windswept land, by 1770 the park covered 1500 acres. Other garden buildings designed by Kent include the Triumphal Arch near the far end of the avenue and the Temple in the woods near the obelisk. Above the main entrance to the house within the Marble Hall is this inscription: The Luxor obelisk in the Place de la Concorde in Paris Obelisk outside Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome. ...

This Seat, on an open barren Estate
Was planned, planted, built, decorated.
And inhabited the middle of the XVIIIth Century
By THO's COKE EARL of LEICESTER

Under Coke of Norfolk extensive improvements were made to the park and by his death in 1842 the park covered its present extent of over 3000 acres and he planted over a million trees on the estate. He employed the architect Samuel Wyatt to design over 50 buildings for the estate, including a series of farms and houses, culminating in c1790 with the Great Barn. The lake to the west of the house was originally a marshy inlet off the North Sea but was created in 1801-3 by the landscape gardener William Eames, at the same time new Walled Kitchen Gardens covering 6 acres were under construction, this stands to the west of the lake. Coke was commemorated by the Coke Monument, designed by William Donthorne and erected in 1845-8 at a cost to the tenants of the estate of £4,000. It consists of a Corinthian column 120 feet high on a plinth decorated with bas-reliefs carved by John Henning Junior, the corners of the plinth support sculptures of an ox, sheep, plough and seed-drill. Coke's work to increase farm yields resulted in the rental income of the estate rising between 1776 & 1816 from £2,200 to £20,000. The monument is about half a mile north of and on axis with the House. Samuel Wyatt (1737-1807) was a member of a leading family of 18th and 19th century English architects. ... The North Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, located between the coasts of Norway and Denmark in the east, the coast of the British Isles in the west, and the German, Dutch, Belgian and French coasts in the south. ... William John Donthorne (1799-1859) was a notable English architect of the early 19th century and was one of the founders of what eventually became the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). ...

In 1850 Thomas Coke, 2nd Earl of Leicester called in the architect William Burn to build new stables to the east of the House. Also in collaboration with W. A. Nesfield who designed the parterres, work started at the same time on the terraces surrounding the house, work continuing until 1857, including to the south and on axis with the House the monumental fountain of St. George and the Dragon dated c1849-57 sculpted by Charles Raymond Smith. To the east of the house and overlooking the terrace Burn designed the large stone Orangery, with three-bay pedimented centre and three-bay flanking wings, which is now roofless and windowless. Thomas William Coke, 2nd Earl of Leicester (December 26, 1822–January 24, 1909) was a British peer, the son of Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester of Holkham. ... William Burn (1789-1870) was a Scottish architect. ... W. A. Nesfield was a great 19th century garden designer in England. ... A parterre is a formal garden construction on a level surface consisting of planting beds, edged in stone or tightly clipped hedging and gravel paths arranged to form a pleasing pattern. ... Orangery in Kuskovo, Moscow (1760s). ...

[edit] Holkham today

The Coke Monument. In the grounds of Holkham Hall, pictured in 1999.

The cost of the construction of Holkham is thought to have been in the region of £90,000 (allowing for inflation, approximately £8m in 2006). This vast cost nearly ruined the heirs of the 1st Earl, but had the result that they were financially unable to alter the house to suit the whims of taste. Thus, the house has remained almost untouched since its completion in 1764. Today this perfect, if severe, example of Palladianism is at the heart of a thriving private estate of 25,000 acres. Though open to the public for tours, it is still the family home of the Earls of Leicester of Holkham. Image File history File links File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... “GBP” redirects here. ... The Earl of Leicester was created