The Trompe l'oeil Walls in the Staircase Hall

Louis Chéron c. 1695
oil on plaster

The grisaille compositions on the walls of the staircase are taken from the bas-reliefs on the Arch of Constantine in Rome. The 'old History painting on ye walls of ye Staircase' was cleaned and varnished by the house painter John Dandridge who also painted the 'iron rails on ye great Staircase' (Executors' Accounts, vol I ff. 163,169). The parquet floor is, after that at Ham House, one of the earliest examples of parquet de Versailles in England and was supplied by the Huguenot joiner Peter Rieusset.

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