Entrance Hall Ceiling, Kenwood House

Overlooking London’s Hampstead Heath since the early 17th century, Kenwood House was transformed in the 18th century into a grand neoclassical villa. Now restored to its Georgian splendour, Kenwood is home to a world-famous art collection.

The Entrance Hall was the last in the sequence of rooms at Kenwood to be redesigned by Scottish architect and designer Robert Adam, with work taking place between between 1773 and 1774. There was no room at Kenwood set aside for dining and as the Entrance Hall was then close to the old kitchens, it was decorated as a dining room – an informal, colourful space in sharp contrast to the formality of the exterior portico.

Bacchus, god of wine theme of the decorative ceiling designed for the Entrance Hall ceiling by Adam. The central roundel, painted by the Venetian artist Antonio Zucchi (1726–95) depicts Bacchus alongside Ceres, goddess of agriculture. The theme is carried through into the stucco work decoration surrounding the painting, with an inner wreath of grapevines. Four stucco medallions punctuate an outer ring of plasterwork corn husks and depict the Triumph of Bacchus, led by the drunken Silenus.