What did the Palace of Whitehall look like?

by eaglessoar

Are there any good reconstructions on line? A quick google search just shows some city plans, a drawing for a new one etc, are there any good artistic reconstructions of it?

lebennaia

We've got quite a few contemporary images done of the palace before it burned down. Here's a nice mid 17th century one painted by Hendrik Danckerts from the UK's Government Art Collection:

http://artuk.org/discover/artworks/the-old-palace-of-whitehall-29931/view_as/grid/search/keyword:whitehall/page/1

The palace was a vast rambling mass of buildings arranged in ranges around a number of courtyards. There were several large gatehouses flanked by polygonal turrets (an English speciality). Most of the structures were late perpendicular gothic, but classical and baroque additions (such as the Banqueting House, which still stands) were made in the 17th century. Probably the best way to get an impression of what it was like is to look at pictures of the surviving Hampton Court, a very similar building.