JAMES DIGMAN WINGFIELD | A set of three views of the Cartoon Gallery at Hampton Court

Probably, the Duke of Sutherland, Stafford House, St James, by 1844;
With Frost & Reed, London;
W. Russell Button, Chicago;
Anonymous sale, London, Sotheby's, 19 March 2003, lot 100;
There acquired. 

London, Royal Academy, 1844, no. 1090 (as Part of the Palace, Hampton Court-Olden Time);
London, The British Institution, 1845, no. 212.

Probably H.G. Bohn, The Pictorial Handbook of London..., London 1854, p. 436. 

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's.These works have been restored. The canvases have slightly relaxed on their stretchers, but this can be easily corrected. The works are varnished. Although these pictures are slightly dirty, they certainly look well as is. The varnish is very milky under ultraviolet light, and it is not possible to identify retouches. However, to the naked eye, it can be seen that there is a 2 inch vertical restoration above the wood panel inlay in the upper right of the central composition. There is also a restoration running about 3 inches horizontally in the brown wood paneling above the group of figures in the lower right in the central composition. There may be a couple of other restorations in this area above these figures. The condition seems to be very good in both of the smaller compositions. There may be a few other retouches, but the condition of the triptych is very good overall.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

These interior views by Wingfield are of the Cartoon Gallery at Hampton Court Palace. The Palace, built during the reign of Henry VIII for Thomas Wolsey, who was Archbishop of York and one of the chief advisers to the King, was planned as a magnificent house on the north bank of the Thames, surpassing even the splendour of royal residences.  In 1529, Wolsey, having lived in such extravagance, fell out of favour, and the Palace, along with his lands, were given back to the King. Henry VIII then enlarged the palace and was responsible for the extension of the royal apartments in 1532, and Hampton Court became one of his most important houses. The Cartoon Gallery at Hampton Court, as depicted by James Wingfield, was part of a programme of building commenced not long after the ascension of William and Mary in 1688. With the stateliness of Versailles in mind, Christopher Wren, Surveyor of the King's works, was asked to draw up plans for new private apartments, and work began in 1689. The Cartoon Gallery, part of Wren's scheme, was originally called the King's Gallery, but within a decade, it was renamed as the gallery for pictures, specifically the cartoons of the Acts of the Apostles by Raphael. This set of cartoons was commissioned by Pope Leo X in 1516 and had been purchased by Charles I in 1623, but had remained in storage, rolled up and out of view. William III, though, brought them out of storage, and they were first hung in 1697. After they came down so that the gallery could be panelled, they were reinstalled in 1699. 

During the eighteenth century, the Cartoon Gallery was used for Privy Council meetings and for musical performances. The following century, in 1865, the cartoons were removed to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, where they remain to this day.