The Greatness is in the Detail

Verrio's murals fell distinctly out of fashion in the 19th century. Unfairly, they were not considered great works of art.

It was thought that Verrio might even have spoiled his creations on purpose, out of spite as a Catholic working for the new Protestant regime on the English  throne after the 'Glorious Revolution' of 1688. 

On Verrio’s King’s Staircase, painted for King William II in 1702, the figure of the goddess Diana (in Greek mythology, Artemis) seems to have three faces. 

It used to be argued that this betrayed the artist’s opinion of a deceitful Queen Mary II, who was sometimes represented as the goddess. But it is far more likely to be a visualisation of Diana as a 'triple goddess' – of the moon, the hunt and the underworld.

Baroque decorative interiors can be confusing and arcane for us today. Their myths and symbolism, well known to 18th-century courtiers, are unfamiliar and can be difficult to decode...

For a long time, the story of Sir James Thornhill’s painted ceiling in the Queen’s Bedchamber, created for George and Caroline, Prince and Princess of Wales, in 1715, had been wrongly identified.

The clues are always in the details. Here a little dog helps us recognise the tale of Cephalus and his faithful hound, coveted and abducted by Aurora, goddess of the dawn.

Sometimes, individual figures can be identified by small details. Artists often gave gods and goddesses familiar attributes so they could be recognised amidst the crowd.

Jupiter (Zeus) may have a thunderbolt and an eagle; his wife Juno (Hera) a peacock...

Other less famous figures also have their attributes.

Elsewhere on the King’s Staircase, Verrio adds details and symbols to leave his audience in no doubt of the meaning behind the mural.

Verrio's tale is a satire of Roman history. A phalanx of Roman emperors are competing for a seat at a banquet of the gods. But their shortcomings  and failures are ridiculed... 

Four monstrous bat-winged serpent-tailed Erinyes, or Furies, hover above, spitting out their poor opinion of those gathered below.

And it's not just portraits hiding in plain sight... Around the central scene of the King’s Bedchamber ceiling, painted by Verrio for King William III in 1701, the artist has composed four miniature landscapes.

In the Queen's Drawing Room, Verrio left a different sort of clue behind... 

This is the royal coat of arms of Queen Anne, but it was replaced in 1707 when the two kingdoms of England and Scotland were formally joined by the Act of Union. This means the painting must have been completed before this date.