Intended as a setting for receptions, balls and
also as a picture gallery this is the largest and
most imposing of the state rooms at Spencer House.
The central compartment of the ceiling is similar
to Stuart's design in the chapel at Greenwich, with
three shallow domes. The coffering and the frieze
are derived from the vaults of the Temple of Concord
and Victory in Rome. The door and the window
architraves, which are identical, are purest Greek,
derived from the Erechtheum. The north and south
doorcases have flanking Corinthian columns which
were added by the late Lord Spencer in 1926.