The Creation of No.10 Downing Street by Sir Robert Walpole as his London home while First Lord of the Treasury, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Leader of the House of Commons in 1732: Did Walpole fashion his identity through Material Culture and Architectural Legacy?

One of the most recognisable and iconic buildings in the world, No.10 Downing Street has occupied a central position in British history for almost three hundred years.
Although much has been written about the building's esteemed occupants, from Sir Robert Walpole to Boris Johnson, little has been written about the building itself.
Using existing and newly discovered archival material from the Metropolitan Museum and Pierpont Morgan Library in New York alongside the Walpole family papers in the UK, this thesis addresses the historic creation of the home of Sir Robert Walpole, the first de facto Prime Minister of Great Britain.
Created between 1732 and 1736, what is now known as No10 Downing Street was created from three existing buildings dating from the 17th century. Recently discovered detail about the internal decoration of key state rooms in the house when Sir Robert and his family took up residence in 1736 gives a rare insight into how it became the home of over one hundred and forty artworks from his outstanding personal art collection. A collection that later became the property of Empress Catherine the Great of Russia and now resides at the Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg.
The thesis explores how artworks by artists including Da Vinci, Rubens, Van Dyck, Poussin, Canaletto and Le Brun were displayed throughout the newly configured and decorated seat of early democratic power in the United Kingdom, influencing societal convention which governed the cultural and social standing of political figures during the eighteenth century and shaped the power and influence of key leaders through tumultuous political events.