Inigo Jones: Complete Architectural Drawings by John Harris , Gordon Higgot. New York: The Drawing Center, 1989.

Inigo Jones: Complete Architectural Drawings by John Harris , Gordon Higgot. New York: The Drawing Center, 1989.

hardcover with DJ

536 pp

fine condition

Inigo Jones was one of the most influential figures in the visual arts of 17th-century Britain. As Surveyor of the King's Works under James I and Charles I he was responsible for a vast programme of work that embraced architecture, interior decoration, stage design and urban planning. He was an architect of European stature, who under- stood Palladio better than anyone north of the Alps. At the Queen's House, Greenwich, and at the Banqueting House, Whitehall, he transmitted the High Renaissance classicism of Italy to an England still embedded in late Gothic modes of design; and in the restoration of St Paul's Cathedral he displayed a profound knowledge of the architecture of ancient Rome. As designer of spectacular Court masques and entertainments in the thirty-five years before the Civil War. Jones revolutionized both the scenery and mechanics of the English stage. This is the first single-volume catalogue of all Jones's ninety-three surviving architectural drawings, a third of which are reproduced in colour. They range from masterly sketch elevations for the Prince's Lodging at Newmarket and the Temple Bar Arch to meticulous presentation drawings for gateways and small houses. A selection of Jones's finest stage designs and figurative drawings has been included to illus- trate the full breadth and extraordinary power of his graphic work. Following extensive research, the drawings have been arranged chronologically for the first time, clarifying the phases of Jones's architectural style. Some well- known examples have been redated or reattributed in the light of stylistic or documentary evidence. Each drawing has been given a full technical description and commentary, supported in many cases by illustrations of engraved sources or photographs of the buildings themselves. Short essays introduce the periods or buildings to which the drawings belong, and longer essays, including a major contribution by John Peacock, summarize the wider aspects of Jones's achievement.