Hampton Court

We finally made it to Hampton Court, the palace up the river from London that was a major residence for Henry VIII, the Oranges, and the Georges. We spent the entire day there, opening to closing, and felt like we still missed a great deal. Hampton Court is vast, three or more palaces in one, you might say, and the gardens are equally vast and interesting. There is much history within the walls, great architecture and landscaping, and art that some of the greatest museums would envy. I took some 400 pix the day we visited, and would have to do ten posts to do it all justice.

At the current main entrance; in olden days, the entrance
would have been on the river 

Entrance sculpture of note

In one of the Tudor halls, H/A, Henry and Anne (Boleyn)

Vaulting in the hall

Royal tapestries everywhere

QE1's porter, said to have been 7 feet tall

Big guy in his Holbein pose

Site of one of his weddings; so if you're head of state and head
of the church, who officiates?

Family portrait...a snapshot, sort of

Not pictured, but not to be missed...
Caravaggio, Caracci, Claude, Duccio, four
Rembrandts, elder Breughel; elsewhere,
the Mantagnas, many Knellers, Reubens/
Snyders

Alley way in the Tudor kitchens area

Giant spits for roasting real beef

Largest Grade 1 Listed Rotisserie in the Nation

Among the incredible art, Mantegna's Triumphs of Caesar
cycle

Ceiling over staircase to the William and Mary apartments

Armory

Among the throne rooms

Ditto

Among the royal bed chambers...

Get a picture of the chimneys, Vicki said

In the Georgian areas

One of the Georges

A giant Snyders boar hunt

And a Rubens/Snyders Satyr and Sleeping Nymphs