Hampton Court Palace, as it now stands, with the alterations and additions of William III., consists of three large quadrangles and several smaller courts.
The western court, containing the suites of apartments occupied by private families, belonged to the original building, and is 167 by 162 ft.; the middle court, known as the Clock Court, also old, is 134 1/2 by 134 ft.; and the Fountain Court, added by Wren, and approached from the south side of the latter court - also his work - contains the handsome suite of apartments shown to visitors, and chiefly interesting for the paintings by old masters on their walls, including the celebrated beauties of Charles II.'s Court, by Lely, Kneller, etc., and numerous masterpieces by Vandyck, Holbein, Caravaggio, Mytens, Leonardo da Vinci, Titian, Parmigiano, Hoppner, Rembrandt, West, Gainsborough, and others.
There is also a triptych by Lucas Van Leyden in the Audience Chamber, to the paintings by Verrio, on the ceiling above the King's Grand Staircase, and to the extensive view from Queen Anne's Drawing-room, occupying the centre of the garden façade.
The Great Hall, between the Queen's Presence Chamber and the so-called Withdrawing Room, is a magnificent Gothic apartment, designed by Wolsey, and completed by Henry VIII., with a carved timber ceiling, considered one of the very finest in England, and walls hung with tapestries of different dates, some after designs of the school of Albert Durer, and the remainder after those of Bernard Van Orley, of Brussels.
The great window, with fourteen lights, is a good example of Tudor work, but is inferior in interest to the smaller oriel window at the upper end of the south side, with a handsome carved Gothic canopy, and the arms of various English sees in the lower compartments.