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The Lord Mayor of London's State Coach is, along with the Queen's Gold State Coach and the Speaker's State Coach, one of the three great State Coaches of the United Kingdom. Unlike the other two (which are only used on rare occasions such as Coronations) the Lord Mayor's Coach is used annually at the Lord Mayor's Show, and as such it is deemed to be the oldest ceremonial vehicle in regular use in the world.〔Report of The City Surveyor (CS.230/12) 2 July 2012〕 ==Details of the design== The carriage is of the type known as a Berlin. It is constructed substantially of wood, which is richly carved, ornamented and gilded. The body of the coach is attached to the undercarriage by four thick leather straps, each held in place by a huge, intricately decorated gilt buckle featuring the City's coat of arms. The roof of the coach is red painted with gilded ornamentation; there was formerly a central carved feature (depicting four boys holding baskets of fruit) only the base of which now remains. There is a large box seat in front for the coachman, whose foot-rest is in the shape of a scallop shell. The Lord Mayor's Coach has undergone a number of programs of restorations, with the wheels being replaced three times between 1711 and 1731 alone.〔 On all four sides of the coach there are painted panels attributed to renowned carriage painter Giovanni Cipriani. Each shows an allegorical scene: The front panel shows figures representing Faith, Hope and Charity (Hope is shown pointing towards the dome of St Paul's Cathedral). The rear panels depict a figure representing the City of London receiving gifts from Riches and Plenty, Trade and Commerce. The right-hand panels include a Mayor being presented to the figure of the City, with the spire of Old St Paul's Cathedral in the background. The left-hand panels include the god Mars pointing to a scroll held by Truth on which is inscribed the name of the first Mayor, Henri Fitz Alwin.〔Weinreb & Hibbert, ''The London Encyclopedia'', Macmillan, London 1983〕 The ceiling of coach has twice been painted blue, rather than the current red, and the Museum of London estimates there to be approximately 100 different layers of paint.〔 The carriage measures 6.55 m (21.5 ft) in length and 2.23 m (7.3 ft) in width, with a height of 3.17 m (10.4 ft).〔 The coach weighs 2.9 tonnes. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Lord Mayor of London's State Coach」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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