A Banquet of the Gods

Antonio Verrio decorated the King's Staircase for William III as a grand entrance to his new royal apartments at Hampton Court. The room is a typically Baroque piece of trompe l'oeil art, with the staircase transformed into an open courtyard, surrounded by two ranks of columns and pillars, and open to the sky. Within this illusionistic stage, Verrio has interpreted The Caesars, a satirical story composed by the 4th century Roman emperor and author, Julian 'the Apostate'. This colourful tale pokes fun at the various flaws and failures of Roman emperors and introduces the heroic figure of Alexander the Great as a rival candidate to be considered for a place among the gods of Olympus.

The ceiling reveals a 'Banquet of the Gods' assembled for the festival of the Kronia (or Saturnalia) when Romulus, founder of Rome, hosted a banquet and invited not only all the gods, but the Roman emperors as well. At the celestial summit, and surrounded by a zodiacal disc, floats the 'top table' of Zeus, Hera, Rhea and Kronos. They are attended by cup bearers including Ganymede and probably Hebe. Above them, Verrio has placed the Three Graces, and the almost ubiquitous Baroque figure of Fame, and just below them and to the left, Iris, the rainbow, with her husband Zephyros, the west wind. Beneath, at a second table, Verrio assembled a selection of other Olympian deities, 'seated in a circle' as Julian described: not all are granted identifying attributes, but Eros, Aphrodite, Ares and Hephaistos make up the first group on the left, and the crowned figures on the right are Poseidon (with trident) and, presumably, Hades with Demeter and her daughter (and Hades' reluctant bride) Persephone.