The Old Royal Navy College in Greenwich, London, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with Baroque architecture designed by Sir Christopher Wren. The Painted Hall and Chapel feature naval and classical Greek imagery, with trompe l’oeil painting and a black and white marble floor. The site is open to visitors, with guided tours available.
The Old Royal Navy College is a site of historical and architectural significance, located on the River Thames in the Borough of Greenwich in London, United Kingdom. Its buildings and grounds form part of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site, Maritime Greenwich. Originally founded in 1694 as the Royal Hospital for Seamen in Greenwich, the complex was the Royal Navy College from 1873 to 1998. Since that time, the Old Royal Navy College has been managed and cared for by the Greenwich Trust, a charitable trust.
Sir Christopher Wren was the original architect for Greenwich Hospital and the buildings survive largely as he had planned. The Old Royal Navy College houses one of the most impressive collections of Baroque architecture in Britain. Four distinct blocks, each with a central courtyard, make up the complex. The King Charles and Queen Anne blocks overlook the River Thames. To the south are the King William and Queen Mary blocks, which house the site’s main attractions, the Painted Hall and Chapel.
Construction of the Painted Hall was begun in 1696 and completed in 1704, following Wren’s original plans. Sir James Thornhill was commissioned to decorate the interior in 1708, a task not completed until 1727. Extensive use is made of trompe l’oeil painting, a technique which employs realistic imagery to create the illusion of three dimensions.
The central oval of the room features a scene depicting the triumph of peace and freedom over tyranny in a mix of ancient and 18th-century imagery. As befitting its intended use as a dining room for naval retirees, seafaring imagery is common and homage is paid to the sciences of navigation, cartography and astronomy. According to tradition, a model for one of the portraits was John Worley, a retired seaman still disciplined for profanity and drunkenness at the age of 18.
Destroyed by fire in 1779, the original Chapel was rebuilt by James Stuart in a Greek Revival style, reopening in 1789. A 20th-century restoration has restored the Chapel to immaculate condition. The use of naval imagery continues throughout, mixed with classical Greek references. A design of octagons and squares adorns the ceiling and the floor is black and white marble. In particular, it includes careful design of the ship’s anchor and anchor cable.
The Queen Anne block and portions of two others were leased by the University of Greenwich in 1999 to house its Greenwich Campus. Trinity College of Music has been based on the King Charles block since 2000. The Greenwich Trust opened the rest of the Old Royal Navy College buildings and grounds to visitors in 2002. A visitor centre, Painted Hall and Chapel are open to public every day, free of charge; guided tours are available that allow access to areas not generally open to the unaccompanied. The Discover Greenwich Visitor Center serves as the gateway to the Old Royal Navy College and the larger Maritime Greenwich site.
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