Banquet of the Gods, 1719-20

William Kent (1685 - 1748)

RA Collection: Art

This is one of three ceiling paintings that Kent created for Burlington House, following his return to England in 1719. They featured as part of the 3rd Earl of Burlington’s major renovations, which championed a revival of Palladian architecture and Italianate interior design in Britain.

The feast taking place on the ceiling may represent the wedding banquet of Cupid and Psyche. Having endured numerous trials, the god of love and his mortal bride have finally attained Jupiter’s permission to marry. Kent probably drew inspiration from Raphael’s famous depiction of the same subject at the Villa Farnesina, which he likely saw while studying in Italy during the previous decade.

Kent also decorated the cove surrounding the ceiling, but this was painted over in 1771-75. A later scheme celebrating individuals from the Royal Academy’s early history was created by John Dibblee Crace in 1891, only to be overpainted just 30 years later. Conservation work undertaken between 2001 and 2004 has partially uncovered sections of both the Kent and Crace schemes.