common sights on the River Thames in London and beyond. These included shallops, luxury transport for the upper class, rowed by up to eight liveried servants, and sometimes decorated with gilded carvings and ornate draperies. Handel's famous Water Music was composed to be played with its audiences listening from pleasure barges. The City livery companies competed as to the luxury of their state barges. Up the river at Oxford, where a stretch of the Thames is known as the Isis, many college Boat Clubs permanently moored large two-decker barges in their college colors to use as clubhouses. These proved too expensive to maintain in the 20th century, and they were gradually sold off. Some college barges are still to be seen on the river, used as reception facilities by riverfront hotels, such as The Swan at Streatley, Berkshire, which has the former Wadham College barge. Today Ceremonial barges are sometimes used in historical reenactments and wedding ceremonies in Polynesia. Religious ceremonies are still conducted aboard barges in the Royal Barge Procession of Thailand. The royal barge is rowed by fifty oarsmen, steered by two steersmen, and commanded by two officers. The crew is rounded out by a flagman, a chantman, and a signalman. Bangkok has a museum devoted entirely to royal barges. Barges built to provide people with scenic trips down rivers developed along with the growing middle class in Europe and the United States. Modern pleasure barges, such as those that travel the wine regions of France, can include such amenities as DVD players, exercise equipment, onboard kitchens and water closets, skylit passenger cabins, spa pools and stereo systems. The luxury hotel barges of Europe are even crewed by a master chef and house keepers, and piloted by an experienced captain all of which live on board to care for the guests who are staying with them. Most of these barges were originally built to be commercial barges carrying grain and coal along the rivers and canals. It is only in more recent times that they are being renovated to become today's modern pleasure barges. Art The Romantic period of art in Europe was fascinated with mundane objects elevated to luxurious heights, making the pleasure barge an attractive subject. Paul Delaroche chose a state barge as his setting to depict the historical figure Cardinal Richelieu in an 1892 painting. About the same time, Ludwig II of Bavaria had a