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| Barbara, Gareth and Eddie outside the front of Waddesdon |
So, I was cleaning up some old pictures and came across a few from Waddesdon. I wanted to share something I found fascinating.
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It is a French Chateau outside of Aylsebury England built by the Ferdinand de Rothschild - a Viennese member of the family, who married an English cousin and then settled in London. Ferdinand was quite in love with his wife and started building Waddesdon Manor for her, but she died in childbirth with their first child. He finished it and was an avid art collector, but never remarried. It passed to his sister (Alice), who cared for the manor and the art, but didn't have children herself, until it went to a branch of the family with children.
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| View from the Gardens. The pictures are in the Round Tower on the far left. |
And so the Manor ended up with James Rotheschild. His mother had been the favorite niece of both Ferdinand and Alice. He took up residence later, but for his marriage he had commissioned a set of paintings that I love.
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It is the story of Sleeping Beauty, in which his new wife is painted as the princess and he was painted as the savior. Other members of the family are in the portraits as well. Below are 4 of the scenes. I found them kind of cool and pretty - but more so I was touched by the amount of love he shows his new wife in this acquisition.
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| The witch casts the spell of "Eternal Sleep" on Beauty's 16th Birthday |
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| The remaining fairy adds sleeping to everyone in the Castle. |
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| The Dragon (the witch) comes to Beauty, but the Fairy helps the child's family |
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| Everyone sleeps waiting for the Prince. |
I didn't pictures of it all, but I found myself entranced in the room.
