| Description Of Item | In 1865 the Great Hall was enlarged by the architect David Bryce, who ordered the roundel portraits from George MacCallum. MacCallum was paid four pounds per profile, a total of £60 for the set of 15 ‘Heads with wreaths’.
The portraits appear along the frieze in the Great Hall. Each of the figures in the roundel portraits is surrounded by a laurel wreath which is both an aesthetic, decorative feature, and a classical symbol which emphasises the importance of the figure depicted in the portrait.
This portrait arguably offers a less flattering depiction of Sydenham than the portraits of him which were painted by Mary Beale, John Jackson and John Wollaston. However, this contrast is, at least in part, due to the difference in the mediums and the greater control which the medium of painting allows over depictions of light and detail.
Artist: Unknown |