Hughenden stair care
For the first time in 30 years, Disraeli’s staircase and the ‘Gallery of Affections’ have received much needed repair and conservation.
When Queen Victoria climbed the staircase to Disraeli’s study after her favourite Prime Minister’s death in 1881, she experienced the Gothic arches and oak banisters in their heyday, past walls lined with gilt-framed portraits.
Known as the Gallery of Affections, the portraiture on the staircase depict the people who helped Disraeli through his career. They start at the bottom of the stairs with those that aided his early career and end at the top with associates from his later years. It’s a concept Disraeli borrowed from Queen Victoria herself, who also had portraits on the stairs of those close to her.
To prepare the staircase for painting the House Team first removed all the portraits. This involved carefully unhooking the heavy paintings from their wall chains, carrying them up the stairs to the top floor where they were stored using specially made T-bars with bubble wrap and acid-free tissue paper. This gives the team the chance to give the picture frames a light dust with a pony hair brush and to clean the staircase skylight and walls using an ostrich feather duster.