Apsley House, also known as Number One, London, is the
London townhouse of the Dukes of Wellington. It stands alone at Hyde Park
Corner, on the south-east corner of Hyde Park, facing south towards the busy
traffic roundabout in the centre of which stands the Wellington Arch. It is a
Grade I listed building.
The house is now run by English Heritage and is open to the
public as a museum and art gallery, exhibiting 83 paintings from the Spanish
royal collection, although the 9th Duke of Wellington still uses the building
as a part-time residence. It is sometimes referred to as the Wellington Museum.
It is perhaps the only preserved example of an English aristocratic town house
from its period. The practice has been to maintain the rooms as far as possible
in the original style and decor. It contains the 1st Duke's collection of
paintings, porcelain, the silver centrepiece made for the Duke in Portugal, c.
1815, sculpture and furniture. Antonio Canova's heroic marble nude of Napoleon
as Mars the Peacemaker made 1802-10, holding a gilded Nike in the palm of his right
hand, and standing 3.45 metres to the raised left hand holding a staff. It was
set up for a time in the Louvre and was bought by the Government for Wellington
in 1816 (according to Nikolaus Pevsner) and stands in Adam's Stairwell.
