Hanging Page

The next day the painting arrived within the same hour of our arrival. After the initial unwrapping, everyone stood back to survey the frame itself, or rather its backside. But you could tell it was a handsome sturdy construction made of French white oak and carried Wiggin’s official signature. The Earl was visibly pleased with it and remarked after inspecting it, ‘That’s a proper job’. It took three strong workmen to carry it to the gallery where it was to be hung, but once it was on its chains it needed very little adjusting to get to the right height. With its new dimensions including the frame, it was bigger than they had estimated but it fit just fine anyway. The major challenge was to decide how to light it best, as the daylight streaming in from either window back lit the painting and it needed artificial lighting. They eventually rejected the idea of overhead lighting and opted for 15 degree spotlighting from a 45 degree angle from the viewer’s position. It was perfect. I thought it amusing that the Earl asked for Adrian’s opinion on the right place to put the lighting but decided to go with the most mathematically correct solution initially. In the end, Adrian was right and we took off to get some lunch.

-excerpt from Kate’s travel notes