The south side of the square is occupied by the gardens of Lansdowne House, town house of the Marquess of Lansdowne (now occupied by Mr. H. Gordon Selfridge). The mansion, begun about 1763 by Robert Adam for the Earl of Bute, was sold in 1768, before it was finished, to the second Earl of Shelburne, the Prime Minister who conceded the independence of the United States and was created Marquess of Lansdowne in 1784. One of the great political mansions of London. Lansdowne House is perhaps still more noted as containing the finest private collection of classic sculptures in England, besides many good paintings. The sculptures were mainly collected in Italy for Lord Shelburne by Gavin Hamilton, in 1771-77, at a cost of about �6000; the paintings were collected chiefly by the third Marquess. The collections are not exhibited in galleries set apart for the purpose, but are placed in rooms that are in constant use. Visitors are admitted only on private introduction.
PAINTINGS. Library: 54. Reynolds, Countess of Ilchester and her two daughters; 41. Gainsborough, Surgeon-General Middleton (not Benjamin Franklin). Back Drawing Room: 7. Giorgione (rather Palma Vecchio), Musical party; 2. Velazquez(?), Noble Spanish child in a cradle; 31. Reynolds, Laurence Sterne; 42 (to the right of the fireplace). Schedone, Madonna in prayer. Anteroom to the right of the entrance: 81. David Roberts, View of the Alhambra; 76. Lawrence, Third Marquess of Lansdowne; Raeburn, 78. Francis Horner, 171 Prof. Playfair; 50 (over the exit). N. Poussin, Tomb in a wood. Adjoining Sitting Room: Murillo, Immaculate Conception; 57, Wright of Derby, The statuette (with portrait of the artist in profile); 84. Andrea del Sarto, Holy Family; 60. Beerstraaien, Winter landscape; W. Etty, Prodigal's return. SCULPTURES. In the Ball Room, at the west end: 62. Bust of a victor wrongly named Antinous); 89. Diskobolos, after Myron, restored as Diomedes removing the Palladium; 87. Juno; 86. Head of Ariadne, with a fillet over the forehead and crowned with ivy; 85. Hermes tying his sandal, of the type long known as Cincinnatus receiving the message of the Roman Senate (found in 1769 at Hadrian's Villa, Tivoli); 53. Female Head; 83. Wounded Amazon, near to the style of Polvkleitos. At the east end: 67. Artemis; 65. Hermes standing erect in an easy attitude of repose, of the school of Praxiteles; 88, Head of Hermes ('probably the most popular specimen among the antiques in this collection'); 61. Herakles ('always rightly considered one of the choicest ornaments of the collection'). In the Dining Room: 36. Athlete; 33. Tyche with the steering paddle (restored); 51. Dionysos in repose; Canova, Sleeping woman (a late work).
From the north-west angle of Berkeley Square Mount St. returns due west to Park Lane. We, however, follow Carlos Place, the first turning on the right, to reach Grosvenor Square, another highly fashionable place of abode.
