The Staircase of the London Residence of the Painter

The Staircase of the London Residence of the Painter is a painting made in 1828 by the Dutch painter Pieter Christoffel Wonder. It is a well-known work from the Centraal Museum in Utrecht, Netherlands.

Pieter Christoffel Wonder - The Staircase of the London Residence of the Painter

The figure in the painting has been identified as the Viscount Goderich, who briefly served as British Prime Minister between August 1827 and January 1828. His brief period in office was an unhappy one, and the painting shows pleasures of rural leisure and retirement, represented by the game animals and the open garden door; this is contrasted with the timely apparatus of state represented by the clock and the stairs showing the concept of politics as a 'higher calling'.^[1][2]

References

1. "Raad aan een schilder die het pourtret van Lodewyk de XVde wilde afschilderen". doi:10.1163/2214-8264_dutchpamphlets-kb2-kb20960. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
2. Robinson, Frederick John, Viscount Goderich, afterwards first Earl of Ripon (1782–1859). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. 2017-11-28. doi:10.1093/odnb/9780192683120.013.23836.

The Viscount Goderich, British Prime Minister, thought to the subject of the painting