In the busy run up to Christmas I was able to find a brief time slot that allowed me to visit Attingham Park for lunch and to see the house decked out for Christmas through the ages. Each room had a different feel and different styles of Christmas decorations and trees.
As in previous years one of the trees was for ‘wishes’. On a table near to the tree there were pieces of paper intended for people to write their own seasonal wishes. After writing down a wish the piece of paper was folded up into an origami shape and added to the tree. Due to my visit being just a few days before Christmas the tree was overflowing with wishes. It was lovely to see children queuing around the table eager to write and add their wishes to the tree.
During my visit to Attingham I was able to find out the latest progress on the picture gallery roof restoration project. During this project most of the pictures that normally hang in the picture gallery have been removed for storage while the work is undertaken. A few pictures have been placed at ground level next to the scaffolding for closer inspection.
One of the paintings is of Queen Charlotte wife of George III. We were told by one of the room guides that the painting had attracted a lot of attention from art experts due to Charlotte appearing to age with her hair changing colour when the painting was viewed from different angles. Some of the art experts thought the artist had deliberately painted her that way. Now that the painting is at ground level it can be seen that no special technique had been used and the effect was just a trick of light due to where the painting had been placed on the wall.
For a moment I thought it was your living room.
You just need to look up and right to see my living room
It is currently featuring in ‘Rest a While with Me’
great shots of the trees. and very interesting about the “aging” painting
We were fascinated by that tale when the guide was telling us about it.
i love the Christmas trees that you have posted here today Cherie… but in the last image of the circular painting has no sign of any king or queen in it… or is that just me:D
….peter:)
There is not King or Queen. The photo is of part of the restored glass, it is the dome above the staircase that connects the picture gallery with the upstairs rooms.
I love that first tree. It looks like a Victorian tree.
I would love for you to show us the painting of Queen Charlotte that seems to age.
Unfortunately due to the subdued lighting I didn’t take a picture of any of the paintings.
Lovely glass dome
It is a fine dome, I can’t wait to see the rest of the roof revealed.
What a lovely idea the wish tree is!
The idea inspires me
I think they should put that painting back to where it was before.
I think they will when the roof is finished. Perhaps it will confuse a few more art experts