The Chapel Royal, Hampton Court

Location

Country: UK
City: London
Place: Government Hospitality, Lancaster House

Two women look towards a painting of an angel in the Chapel Royal at Hampton Court Palace. Behind them, a man reads from a prayer book or bible. The group may represent Queen Victoria, her lady-in-waiting and Prince Albert. Beyond the group the impressive, golden hammerbeam roof of the Chapel is illuminated.

This work is by the artist James Digman Wingfield. The considerable number of works that Wingfield painted of Hampton Court, at different times in his career, suggests something of an obsession with the palace. He made at least ten other paintings of locations within the buildings or grounds. These include 'The Fountain at Hampton Court', now in the collection of Bankfield Museum, Halifax, and 'A Summer Afternoon at Hampton Court' (1844), now in the Royal Collection. Wingfield also painted three versions of 'The Cartoon Gallery at Hampton Court in Olden Times', all sold through Sotheby’s, London, in 2003.

James Digman Wingfield painted landscapes, genre and historical subjects, as well as interiors and park scenes. He exhibited his work at the Royal Academy, the British Institution and the Society of British Artists for over 30 years. Wingfield lived in the Bloomsbury area of London for much of his life, but later moved to Chelsea. His studio sale was arranged through Christie, Manson & Wood (now known as Christie's) in July 1872 and held a few months after his death. The sale contained numerous copies of works of Old Masters by the artist - a field in which he evidently excelled.

Places

England, Middlesex, Hampton Court Palace

Subjects

organ, book, reading (as Subject), genre, man, woman, 19th century costume, shawl, dress, coat, bonnet, fan, putto, palace, chapel, archway, column, ceiling, pillar (architectural feature), palace interior, curtain, chair, footstool, religious/ecclesiastical interior

Materials & Techniques

canvas, oil, oil painting

Artist

James Digman Wingfield (1800 - 1872)

Title

The Chapel Royal, Hampton Court

Date

1849

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

height: 86.50 cm, width: 72.00 cm

Acquisition

Purchased from Taco Boersma, January 1980

Inscription

bl: J.D.WINGFIELD 1849

GAC number

14928