If you’re good at holding your breath you’ll be able to enjoy this Victorian marvel without distraction, otherwise it could be a case of life imitating art: the room has been scented with a Jo Malone rose fragrance and it’s almost as overbearing as the petals in the painting.
As you move through the house, you travel along allegorical timelines from antiquity to Arthurian legend. There are distinct uses of light and rich colours that envelope the scenes. But it’s the use and abuse of the female form that stands out – from moments of utter despair as in John Melhuish Strudwick’s ‘Elaine’, to enchantment, as portrayed in John Waterhouse’s ‘The Crystal Ball’.
