The Living Hall (The Frick Collection, New York)

In The Living Hall, Gay has simplified the architectural detail of the room, and much of the rich carving of the paneling has been barely suggested. Instead, he emphasizes the glowing warmth of the room, with plush furniture, a Persian carpet, and the finest Old Master paintings. Gay chose to depict the more domestic hearth side of the room, creating a composition that invites the viewer into the intimacy of the fireside. He emphasizes the forceful power of the trio of famous portraits that surround the fireplace, Holbein’s Sir Thomas More (1527), at left and Thomas Cromwell (1532/33) at right, with El Greco’s St. Jerome in the middle.