(hev)+Palladianism

//Heveningham Hall: North facade (2006)//

Palladianism as a new way of designing buildings was introduced into England by Inigo Jones in the early 17th century. Its theoretical vocabulary had been defined in the previous century by an Italian [|Andrea Palladio]. He had recorded for the first time all the problems in building design and their solution using the main elements of ancient Greek architecture as developed by the Romans who had introduced arches within the Grecian rectangular column and lintel system. Palladio began applying his research to building in the mid 16th century. //Palazzo Chiericati, Vicenza. Begun 1550.//

Jones had encountered Palladio's rules whilst travelling in Italy under the patronage of Thomas Howard 2nd Earl of Arundel. From then on he designed directly from Palladios book Quatrro libri dell architectura which was addressed to practicing architects.

The first Palladian ideal to be fully realised in 17th century England was the house designed for Anne of Denmark wife of James lst. The Queens House was begun in 1617 at Greenwich but although it was a revolution in British architectural vision Palladianism did not have a general influence on building design.

After the Restoration of 1660 Palladio was regarded as old fashioned and his strict rules were set aside by Wren and his followers. Wren dominated architecture for the rest of the century using many diverse ideas from several sources. Classical elements were used but in ways that were so varied vigourous and interesting that the buildings defy any kind of classification.

James Gibbs carried the English architectural experiments of Wren to their peak His publication 'A Book of Architecture' of 1728 was a compendium of his own designs which were very much influenced by buildings of the Italian Baroque. As the definitive statement of a unique period of English experimentation with continental forms they were subsequently used freely by lesser architects in both England and North America.

Gibbs book signalled the end of the vigourous highly creative and uniquely English phase of architectural history which preceded the wholesale adoption of Palladianism in the first half of the 18th century. The latter developments occurred in isolation from the rest of Europe as architects were led by Lord Burlington back to Palladio and the strict classicism of 16th century Italy.

Burlington had become passionately attracted to Palladianism through reading two publications which both appeared in 1715 Colen Campbells 'Vitruvius Britannicus ', which was a collection of engravings of country houses by contemporary architects including Campbell himself. His intention was to launch a revival of "antique simplicity" which a had been inaugurated by Inigo Jones but not fulfilled. The other book which greatly influenced Burlington was 'The architecture of Palladio in four Books, Revised, Designed and Published by Giacomo Leoni. Spurred on by these two authors, Burlington decided to take on the role of chief patron of a new classical style.

Burlington encountered the painter William Kent on his first visit to Rome where Kent was acting as a guide to English visitors. Under Burlington's patronage Kent was brought back to England to become the pioneer of Palladianism, a style which he transformed into something quite new and personal.

James Brydges, [|1st Duke of Chandos], was one of the first to fall for Palladianism. He built a magnificent house "at vast expense" at Canons (or Cannons) near Edgware in Middlesex. There Brydges ran through several architects prominent in the English Baroque. He began in 1713 with William Talman, whom he dismissed in favour of John James (1714), who had partly executed his designs before James Gibbs succeeded him in 1715. It is thought that the south and east elevations, and the chapel were the designs of Gibbs. Brydges dismissed Gibbs in 1719, and completed the house under the supervision of John Price and, Edward Shepherd (1723-25), Canons was demolished in 1747. On its site, now incorporated in Greater London, is Canons Park.

//Cannons: after a drawing by John Price, 1720//

Paradoxically the increased use of classical forms in building coincided with the growth of the English school of naturalistic landscape design. These two contrasting aspects of severely restrained house and informal garden were a feature of Kent's work. The house was surrounded by artistically studied informal plantings, of exotic trees which included small scale architectural items such as grottos, temples and classical sculptures in niches and colonnades. These he placed in semi-natural landscapes created by the subtle use of contours in shaping lakes and canals. The whole ensemble was derived from the 'roman ruins in a landscape' school of painting which flourished fifty years previously in Italy.

The Palladian movement under Burlington with its ultra-strict discipline did not survive as a major force beyond the mid 18th century. Its demise was accelerated from 1750 onwards by the new patrons of Gothic Romanticism notably Horace Walpole. Walpoles 'Gothic' involved the refining and integration of elements of English medieval buildings to produce elegant decorative forms but without the use of ancient structural methods.

Heveningham Hall was built in 1778 as Palladianism was dying. It is a particularly pure assembly from Palladios patterns, with elements of the North Front derived directly from Pro-Roman models. In its architect Robert Taylor, the Jonesian vision of 1613 had finally run its course, and this was the last design for a major English country house in a strict Romano Greek style.