Heaven and Hell, Burghley House

Burghley House near Stamford, Lincolnshire, was built between 1555 and 1587 and is the grandest Elizabethan house in England. It is also one of the most palatial country houses open to the public. The two photographs from its interiors feature the painting of Antonio Verrio who worked there in the late 1600s. The first is the Heaven Room where on the walls and ceiling the classical gods disport themselves among Corinthian columns. 

The second, nearby, shows a detail of the Hell Staircase where Verrio depicts the entry to Hell as the open mouth of a cat. Medieval Doom paintings of the type commonly seen in churches, were intended to warn observers of the perils of a life that ended in Hell. Verrio and his patrons seem to have had no such didactic aim: entertainment seems to have been their motivation.

photos © T. Boughen     Camera: Olympus OMD E-M10     2017

Birmingham to Shrewsbury coach

I assume this is a replica (or restored original) of the coach that served as transport between Birmingham and Shrewsbury - they are the two placenames painted on the exterior. Once again it is a four-in-hand (see the previous post). I have no idea why this coach and its passengers were undertaking a horse-drawn trip, but I imagine it is a re-enactment of some kind on a shorter journey than the fifty or so miles between those places.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Olympus OMD E-M10

London to Stamford coach

The London to Stamford coach stands outside Burghley House, somewhere it would have rarely, if ever, have been seen. This scene with the replica, or restored original, coach could date from any time in the eighteenth century to late in the nineteenth century. The giveaway that this is a modern scene are the female grooms and the two mobile phones in use. Otherwise the driver seems ready to get the four-in-hand underway on the just under one hundred miles journey.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Olympus OMD E-M10