HYLAND
As elsewhere at Syon, the ancient deities are
immanent, in white marble statues residing in darkened
niches, and in Andrea
Casali's mythological
chiaroscuro paintings
of celebratory subjects,
notably the Aldobrandini
Wedding and The Nine
Muses. It is as if Adam,
his patrons and artists,
call out to the Greek
gods, and their Roman
incarnations, to instruct
them on the right use
of pleasure and beauty,
including the pleasures
of the table. Sculptor
Joseph Wilton's copy of
Michelangelo's Bacchus
occupies a central niche,
cup upraised. Ceres,
goddess of the harvest,
is one of the very few
complete statues by Bartolomeo Cavaceppi, known
as 'The Prince of Restorers.'
Following Adam's convictions about variety in
decoration, one departs the Dining Room for the
intense experience afforded by the Red Drawing
Room, its walls sheathed in crimson Spitalfields
silk and hung with portraits in richly gilded frames,
Below: Green drawing room
