The Sun.
London, England, 1853-01-06 00:00:00

APSLEY-HOUSE-( THIS DA Y. )

A private view of the principal apartments of Apsley-
house took place to-day, previous to their being thrown
open to the public, as announced in our columns yester-
day. The apartments on view are—four drawing-rooms,
the famous picture gallery, the China-room, the Secre-

tary's-room, the Duke's private-room, and the bed-room
The principal attractions are the pictures and statuary,
the magnificent presents made to the Duke, and in the
last three rooms, which to many will be the most in-
teresting, the nearer in contact we seem to be brought, on
admission into the scene of his private life, and a view of
those evidences of his simplicity of tastes and habits,
which were not the least remarkable features in his cha-
racter. The pictures are numerous, and contain several
excellent specimens of the best Italian, Spanish, and
Dutch' painters, besides a number of contemporary por-
traits of the great statesmen and warriors of the age
passing away. It would have been a great convenience
to visitors had a more ample catalogue of the pictures
been furnished, as in the case of the Bridgewater
Gallery, as it is in that which we published yester-
day in full, gives us only what almost every
person could readily have guessed for himself, and
gives that in such a general and indeterminate
manner as to be occasionally more a source of bewilder-
ment than a guide. The most famous paintings are in
the picture gallery, the room in which the Waterloo
banquet was always held. They are the "Agony," by
Corregio, formerly in the Palace at Madrid, a copy of
which is to be found in the National Gallery ; several
excellent " Velasquez," amongst which are three inimit-
able portraits, one of himself, one of Walter Seller, and a
third one of Pope Innocent. There are also two ex-
quisite Titians, several Murillos, numerous specimens of
the Dutch school, among which figure prominently
Teniers, Backhaysen, Wonvermans ; and we thought
we recognised one Cuyp, though at such a distance that
we were unable to be any the better for the discovery.
The cabinet pictures are very numerous, being mostly by
such artists as Janstyn, L. Van Leyden, Breughel,
and Van der Heyden. Spagnoletti's " Witch," a pic-
ture of considerable repute, is one of the collection,
though this morning we did not recognise it. Only one
Rubens, too, we noticed, a small cabinet picture ; and
one Salvator Rosa, a battle-piece. The " Claudes" are
small, and not equal "to those of the National
Gallery. Among the modern pictures those which
will attract most attention are the " Chelsea
Pensioners," by Wilkie, and the companion picture
"The Greenwich Pensioners," by Burnet, "Van Am-
burgh in the Cage with the Wild Beasts," by Sir ,Ed-
ward Landseer, in the first drawing-room, "The Melton
Hunt," by Francis Grant, in the second drawing room,
and "The Battle of Waterloo," by Allen, taken from
Napoleon's head-quarters, in the striped drawing room.
The portraits are numerous, and, with the exception of
one of the Duke of Marlborough, over the mantel-piece
in the first drawing-room, are mostly contemporary.
The most interesting are in the striped drawing room,
and are mostly companions in arms of the Duke, araong
whom we recognise the " Marquis of Anglesea," in hus-
sar uniform, to the left of the door • next to him, " Lor'd
Lynedoch ;" over the door, "Marshal Blucher"—a most
pleasing portrait of the rough old veteran ; to the right
of the door, " Lord Beresford," in a Portugese uniform,
" Sir George Murray," the Duke's Quarter-Master-Gene-
ral, in a civilian's dress, and a host of other military
heroes, at whose individuality the visitor is left to guess.
In this room, also, are "Lord Nelson," " Mr. Pitt,"
and " Lord Cowley." We have before, in passing from
the first to the second drawing room, passed under
admirable portraits of "Marshal Soult" and " Pius VII ;"
and in the small drawing room, by a fine full-length por-
trait of " William the Fourth," by Wilkie. Two in-
ferences from thie collection of portraits cannot
fail to strike the most careless observer ;—the
Duke's respect for his great rival in military fame, and
his love for his daughter-in-law, the present Duchess
of Wellington, are evinced by the frequent recurrence of
their portraits. The former we have at almost every
age, and besides two excellent highly finished portraits
of the Duchess, we remarked two beautiful sketches
of her face over the door in the Duke's bed-
room. Of the statuary, the finest specimen is the
magnificent colossal statue of " Napoleon," by
Canova, presented to the late Duke by the Allied
Sovereigns. In the waiting room are busts
of Lord Castlereagh," "Mr. Perceval," " Colonel
Gurwood," "Colonel Ponsonby," and the late Duke,—
this last, with an enailavina lately published, were the
only representations of the Duke himself which he no-
ticed in the house. In the picture gallery are a number
of female busts, and in the china room busts in bronze
of " Henri 1V.," " Louis XIV.," the great " Conde,"
" Turrenne," and the late " Marquis Wellesley." Of
the magnificent prdsents made to the late Duke, we
have scarcely time to spe:k, and shall reserve them for
a future visit. Besides vases of porphyry from the
King of Sweden, of malachite from the Emperor
Alexander, of Sevres china from Louis
candelabras of Russian porphyry, from the Emperor
Nicholas, and magnificent services of Sevr6s china scat-
tered through the apartments, the most valuable are to
be found in the China Room. Were the fu•st object
that strikes the visitor's attention is the famous Wel-
lington Shield, presented to the Duke by the merchants
of London in 1822 ; here also is the magnificent plateau
in silver, presented by the Regent of Portugal, and the
services of china presented by the Emperor of Austria,
the King of Prussia, and Louis XVIII., in glass cases,
on each side of the apartment. From these the visitor
passes into the Secretary's Room, the Duke's Private
Room and the Duke's Bed Rom, in the arrange-
ment of which we are assured that no altera-
tion has been made since they were last occu-
pied by the Duke. The simplicity and utter absence of
anything like superfluity or luxury in these apartments
are the very image of the man himself.
The apartments will be open on Tuesday next for the
first time to the public. Admission, by ticket, to be
obtained by written application to Mr. Mitchell, to
whom all the arrangements, most satisfactory of their
kind, have been entrusted.