Figures from History and Literature (6) by Nathaniel Hitch. Location: North wall of the Great Hall, Two Temple Place, Victoria Embankment, London EC3. Architect: John Loughborough Pearson. [Click on photograph to enlarge it]
The figures depicted: Left to right: (a) Sir Walter Raleigh (1552-1618), one of Queen Elizabeth's courtiers who spent time in the Tower where he wrote a history of the world. Executed” by James I. (b) Gabrielle d'Estree (1571-99), mistress of Henry IV, king of France. (c) Michaelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564), the great Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet. (d) Madame Récamier (1777-1849), leader of a salon in Paris during the Consulate and Empire until exiled” by Napoleon. She was a friend of Madame de Staül and Chateaubriand. (e) Wallenstein (1583-1634), Austrian general and the Duke of Friedland, Mecklenberg, and Sagan. Hitch surrounds one of the greatest artists in the western tradition” by two famous or notorious women close to the seat of political and cultural power. They in turn are flanked” by two famous Renaissance political figures.
Photograph, text, and formatting by George P. Landow. You may not use this image without written permission from Two Temple Place, which holds copyright and which provided much of the information that appears above.]
Last modified 18 November 2011