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Lot Essay
After the painting by Canaletto, location unknown.
In 1741, Ranelagh gardens and house were purchased by a theatrical syndicate, and the Gardens opened to the public the following year. Ranelegh was considered fashionable, as Horace Walpole wrote soon after the gardens opened, "You can't set your foot without treading on a Prince, or Duke of Cumberland." Ranelagh Gardens introduced the masquerade, formerly a private, aristocratic entertainment, to a wider, middle-class English public.
The centrepiece of Ranelagh was a rococo rotunda which was designed by William Jones. There was also a Chinese pavilion, which was added in 1750, as well as an ornamental lake and several walks. Canaletto painted the gardens and the interior of the Rotunda twice, for different patrons.
The rotunda was demolished in 1803 and the gardens were incorporated into the grounds of the Chelsea Royal Hospital.
In 1741, Ranelagh gardens and house were purchased by a theatrical syndicate, and the Gardens opened to the public the following year. Ranelegh was considered fashionable, as Horace Walpole wrote soon after the gardens opened, "You can't set your foot without treading on a Prince, or Duke of Cumberland." Ranelagh Gardens introduced the masquerade, formerly a private, aristocratic entertainment, to a wider, middle-class English public.
The centrepiece of Ranelagh was a rococo rotunda which was designed by William Jones. There was also a Chinese pavilion, which was added in 1750, as well as an ornamental lake and several walks. Canaletto painted the gardens and the interior of the Rotunda twice, for different patrons.
The rotunda was demolished in 1803 and the gardens were incorporated into the grounds of the Chelsea Royal Hospital.