Felbrigg Hall, Southwest View (Gloria Deo in Excelsis), Seat of the Honorable William Windham (from McGuire Scrapbook) 1800 - 1900

Curator: What strikes you most when you look at this drawing? Editor: Oh, it's the ghostliness of it all! It feels like peering into a forgotten memory. So fragile. Curator: It certainly has a delicate quality. This drawing depicts Felbrigg Hall, the seat of William Windham. It comes from a scrapbook and was created sometime between 1800 and 1900, rendered with pencil on paper. Editor: The architecture is really captivating! It looks as if light itself is barely clinging to those walls. Like a mirage about to fade! I love the contrast to the boldness of the inscription: "Gloria Deo in Excelsis" Curator: Indeed! The inscription adds another layer of depth. The words themselves mean "Glory to God in the Highest", a potent affirmation and a striking reminder of divine power intertwined with earthly status. Do you see that tension? Editor: Absolutely. It speaks volumes about the period, that complex relationship. Power, privilege and spiritual reckoning. It makes you wonder about Windham himself! Curator: Well, William Windham was indeed a prominent figure. A British Whig statesman, known for his principles, but also his eccentricities. The house, in a way, represents the man. Editor: I can see that, an intellectual soul in dialogue with the world, struggling for resolution. Curator: And maybe there is something comforting in seeing these old estates, a recognition of something that's endured? Editor: Maybe... For me, it's a gentle melancholy. I like that this house keeps whispering its story through time, like a faded photograph found in an old attic. A fleeting vision caught in pencil strokes, reminding us that everything eventually fades. Curator: Well said, it reminds us to look more closely to appreciate the subtlety. Editor: And listen more carefully to those whispering stories.