The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction - Volume 13, No. 352, January 17, 1829 by Various
page 3 of 52 (05%)
page 3 of 52 (05%)
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as it is our intention to illustrate the ensuing Number of the MIRROR
with a view of the exterior, we shall for the present confine ourselves to such descriptive details as we have been enabled to collect in our recent visit. The interior is, however, in an unfinished state; the works are in actual progress, and the operations of the several artists continue uninterrupted by the access of visiters. On entering the edifice by the large door in front, a staircase on the right leads to a passage, which communicates with a circular saloon hung with coloured drapery. This room, which, when finished, will be the largest of the kind in London, occupies the whole internal space, or the basement of the building, with the exception of the staircase leading to the summit, which rises like a large column from the centre. This circular saloon is intended for the exhibition of paintings and other productions of the fine arts; and it redounds highly to the credit of Mr. Hornor, that this exhibition is to be entirely free of charge to the artists. Such an introduction of their works to public notice cannot fail to prove mutually advantageous. It may be here necessary to state that the wall of the building represents a panoramic _View of London_, as seen from the several galleries of St. Paul's Cathedral--and that the view of the picture is obtained from three galleries--the _first_ of which corresponds, in relation to the view, with the first gallery at the summit of the dome of St. Paul's; the _second_ is like that of the upper gallery on the same edifice; and the _third_, from its great elevation, commands a view of the remote distance which describes the horizon in the painting. Above the last-mentioned gallery is placed the identical copper ball which for so many years occupied the summit of St. Paul's; and above it is a fac-simile of the cross by which it was surmounted. Over these is |
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