Off to Hatfield. Quite a treat. Not just the powerful sense of dynastic history, but the quality of the paintings, library, manuscripts and, which I’d forgotten, the Jacobean woodcarving in nearly every room.

I will start with the Rainbow portrait in the Marble Hall, partly because I have been reading about Roy Strong’s first encounter with portraits of the Queen, the subject of his first book (1963):-

Upstairs in the King James Drawing Room is the Ermine Portrait, attributed to Hilliard:-

The wood carving in the Marble Hall is apparently by John Bucke, but of widely different quality and character:-

Then, there is good wood carving on the Grand Staircase:-

The rest of what I photographed is more miscellaneous – just things which randomly caught my eye:-

It’s a feast !