Queen's House facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Queen's House |
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The Queen's House, viewed from the main gate
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| General information | |
| Location | Greenwich London, SE10 United Kingdom |
| Construction started | 1616 |
| Completed | 1635 |
| Client | Anne of Denmark |
| Owner | Royal Museums Greenwich |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Inigo Jones |
| Designations | Grade I listed Scheduled monument |
The Queen's House is a beautiful old royal home in Greenwich, London. It was built between 1616 and 1635. This special building is near where the old Greenwich Palace used to be. Today, it's a key part of the Old Royal Naval College area, with a great view stretching to the River Thames.
The Queen's House was designed by a famous architect named Inigo Jones. He was asked to build it by Queen Anne of Denmark in 1616. After she passed away, Queen Henrietta Maria asked him to finish it in 1635. Both queens wanted a place to show off their amazing art collections. One famous artwork was a ceiling painting in the Great Hall by Orazio Gentileschi, called Allegory of Peace and the Arts.
This house is very important in British building history. It was the first building in England to be designed in the classical style. This style uses ideas from ancient Greek and Roman buildings. Inigo Jones learned about this style during his travels in Italy. The Queen's House looked very new and different when it was built. It also features the amazing Tulip Stairs, which seem to float, and the Great Hall, which is a perfect cube shape.
After being a royal home for a short time, the Queen's House became part of the Royal Hospital for Seamen. Now, it's a Grade I listed building and a scheduled monument, which means it's a very important historical site. It's part of the National Maritime Museum and displays many paintings of ships and famous people.
Contents
A Royal Home's Beginnings
The Queen's House is in Greenwich, London. It was built next to the old Palace of Greenwich. That palace was a large, red-brick building, very different from the new, white Queen's House. The original idea was for the Queen's House to be a special pavilion. It would have a bridge going over the main road between London and Dover.
Building started in 1616, but work stopped in 1618 when Queen Anne of Denmark became sick. She died the next year. The project started again in 1629 when King Charles I gave the house to his wife, Queen Henrietta Maria. The main structure of the house was finished by 1635.
However, the house was only used by royalty for about seven years. The English Civil War began in 1642, changing everything. Some parts of the inside of the house still exist, like three ceilings and some wall decorations. But none of the rooms look exactly as they did originally.
Many artworks made for the house by King Charles I are now in other places. For example, a ceiling panel by Orazio Gentileschi, called Allegory of Peace and the Arts, is now in Marlborough House in London.
Even though the Queen's House was not used much, it became a key part of Sir Christopher Wren's design for the Greenwich Hospital. This was because Queen Mary II insisted that the view from the Queen's House to the river should not be blocked.
Amazing Architecture Inside
The Queen's House was designed by Inigo Jones in the 1600s. It was England's first truly classical building. Inigo Jones was asked by Anne of Denmark to build this unique house in 1616. After her death, he finished it for Queen Henrietta Maria in 1635.
The Queen's House looks very different from other English buildings of that time. Jones created a special bridge on the first floor that connected the two halves of the building. Inigo Jones was greatly inspired by Italian Renaissance architecture and the Palladian style. This style was created by an Italian architect named Andrea Palladio. Jones used ideas of balance, detail, and good proportions in his design.
Unlike the traditional red-brick Tudor style of the old palace, the Queen's House is white. It is known for its elegant and balanced look.
The Great Hall
Inigo Jones's design is famous for two main parts: the Great Hall and the Tulip Staircase. The Great Hall is the most important room in the Queen's House. It has a gallery on the first floor that looks down onto a black and white marble floor with geometric patterns.
The Great Hall is special because it's a perfect cube shape. It measures 40 feet (about 12 meters) in every direction. Jones used Palladio's rules of proportion to create this amazing space.
The Tulip Stairs
The Tulip Staircase was very unusual for its time and the first of its kind in England. It's made of beautiful wrought iron. This staircase is called "geometric" and "unsupported" because it seems to float. Each step is held up by the wall and rests on the step below it. This clever design was invented by a mason named Nicholas Stone.
Jones got the idea for the staircase and the glass roof above it from a monastery in Italy. He noticed that staircases with an open space in the middle could get light from above.
Royal Patrons
Anne of Denmark's Vision
Anne of Denmark, who was the wife of King James I of England, loved art and supported many artists. She asked Inigo Jones to work on the Queen's House in Greenwich. Even though the house wasn't finished before she died in 1619, Anne used the palace at Greenwich to display her art.
Both King James I and Queen Anne had their own art galleries. These spaces were important because they showed off the wealth and power of the royal family. Anne's project might have been inspired by similar garden buildings and hunting lodges in her home country of Denmark.
Queen Henrietta Maria's "House of Delights"
Henrietta Maria, the wife of King Charles I, took over the project in 1629. She asked Inigo Jones to come back and finish the Queen's House between 1629 and 1638. Henrietta Maria also loved art and bought many pieces for the Queen's House.
She used the palace as a "House of Delights," filling it with amazing artworks. This included the famous Great Ceiling painting.
Allegory of Peace and the Arts
Orazio Gentileschi was a favorite artist of King Charles I's court. Queen Henrietta Maria asked him to decorate her "House of Delights." By the time Gentileschi died in 1639, the Queen's House held about half of his English artworks. This included the ceiling of the Great Hall, which he painted from 1635 to 1638.
The main part of this ceiling is a large round painting called a tondo. It's surrounded by eight other paintings. The ceiling celebrates the rule of King Charles I and how he encouraged peace and the arts. Gentileschi showed the power of women in this ceiling, as almost all of the 26 figures are women.
The main round painting shows Peace floating on a cloud. She is surrounded by figures representing the Liberal Arts, Victory, and Fortune. The other panels show the nine Muses and figures representing Painting, Sculpture, Architecture, and Music. The image of Peace holds an olive branch and a staff. This shows that peace comes from good government and learning.
In 1708, these paintings were removed from the Queen's House. Queen Anne gave them to Sarah Churchill. They were then put in Marlborough House in London, where you can still see them today.
Recently, in 2016, a modern artist named Richard Wright worked on the ceiling. He and his team filled the empty spaces where Gentileschi's paintings used to be. They used gold leaf to create a design that reflects the house's geometry and beauty.
While the Queen's House remained an official building, the main palace next to it was slowly taken down between 1660 and 1690. Between 1696 and 1751, the palace was replaced by the Royal Hospital for Seamen. This hospital is now known as the Old Royal Naval College.
Sir Christopher Wren designed the hospital. Because of the Queen's House's location, and Queen Mary II's wish to keep its river view, Wren designed the hospital with two matching sets of buildings. These buildings were separated by a grand open space, exactly the width of the Queen's House. This open space created a beautiful view from the Thames all the way to Greenwich Park. This amazing architectural view helped make 'Maritime Greenwich' a World Heritage Site in 1997.
Changes Over Time
From 1806, the Queen's House was used as the center of the Royal Hospital School. This school was for the sons of sailors. Because of this new use, more space was needed. New parts, called wings, were added to the east and west sides of the house. These were connected to the main house by colonnades (rows of columns).
In 1933, the school moved to a new location. The Greenwich buildings, including the Queen's House, were then changed and restored. They became the new National Maritime Museum (NMM), which opened in 1937.
Later, in the late 1870s, a railway tunnel was built underground near the house. After the tunnel was finished, the grounds north of the house were put back to how they were before.
The Queen's House Today
In 2012, the area south of the Queen's House was used for the horse riding events of the Olympic Games. The Queen's House itself was used as a special VIP center during the games.
To get ready for the Olympics, some parts of the Queen's House were changed inside. The lead roof was also worked on for security cameras. The house then had a big 14-month restoration starting in 2015 and reopened on October 11, 2016. It had also been restored between 1986 and 1999.
Today, the Queen's House mainly displays the museum's large collection of marine paintings and portraits from the 1600s to the 1900s. It's also used for other public and private events. Usually, it's open to everyone daily, and it's free to visit. It's part of the National Maritime Museum, which also includes other galleries and the historic Royal Observatory.
In late 2022, a painting from 1768 by artist Tilly Kettle was put on permanent display. This painting shows Sir Samuel Cornish, 1st Baronet, Richard Kempenfelt, and Thomas Parry on a ship called HMS Norfolk. The National Maritime Museum bought it with help from the Society for Nautical Research.
See also
In Spanish: Casa de la Reina (Greenwich) para niños
