"This room extends over the whole west end of the house, and is 76 feet 10 inches by 24 feet 3 inches, 21 feet 3 inches high; it is truly elegant, and presents such a show of magnificence and art as eye hath seldom seen and words cannot describe" - so wrote John Jewell in the earliest guide book to Harewood, written in 1819.
The Gallery was one of Adam's most magnificent achievements, with ceiling paintings by Biagio Rebecca. Changed to some extent by Barry in the 1840s, the columns supporting the central arches of the three triple windows, were replaced by brackets, the chimneypiece, dated 1776 on Adam's design was moved to the Dining Room and two Victorian replacements were installed. The room has now been painstakingly restored back to its original Adam design.
The Gallery includes Harewood's famous collection of Chinese Porcelain and is home to a magnificent collection of renaissance paintings.
The mirrors between the windows, with their flanking cherubs, are by Chippendale the Younger, as are the elegant torchères. His crowning achievement is the pelmets, beautifully carved from wood to imitate a heavy fabric, the only 'curtains' that the room was intended to have.
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