Howard Burns

Inigo Jones and Vincenzo Scamozzi

1. Portrait of Vincenzo Scamozzi,

on the title page of his book, LIdea della
Architettura Universale, Venezia 1615.

At first sight it could appear almost irrelevant to

ask what was the importance of Vincenzo
Scamozzi (ill. 1) for Inigo Jones (ill. 2). For Palladio was clearly Joness central inspiration, the
architect with whom he identified even to the
point of signing his name and that of Palladio
again and again (ill. 3) on a blank page in his
copy of Palladios Quattro Libri1. Joness copy of
the 1601 edition of Palladios treatise, was the
most densely annotated of his books, the repository of his observations on architecture over the
decades. This fact alone testifies to the centrality of Palladios works and words for Jones as an
architect. And even when Palladio slips up
guilty of inaccuracy when he publishes the Maison Carre at Nmes2, or even of assuming the
credit for designing Palazzo Thiene, which
Jones agrees was not designed by him, but by
Giulio Romano3 no word of condemnation issues from the English architects pen. It is not so
with purblind Scamozzi, ever in Joness view
lacking in artistic judgment, envious of Palladio,
and ready to copy him and others without acknowledging his debt4.
But, as we shall see, we should not be too influenced by Joness more quotable marginal sallies.
Not only had Jones conversed with Scamozzi, but
had made notes and probably drawings related to
his buildings, and had read and annotated the Idea
della Architettura Universale so carefully that he

2. Anthony van Dyck, Portrait of Inigo

Jones, detail (Chatsworth, Trustees of the
Chatsworth Settlement; after Palladio
and Northern Europe. Books, Travellers,
Architects, texts by G. Beltramini et al.,
Milano 1999, p. 106).

even corrects errors in the numbering of the

plates, and printing errors in the page numbers in
the index (ill. 4)5. Furthermore Scamozzi is the
most likely source for the greater part of the large
block of Palladio drawings which Jones owned
an acquisition of enormous importance not only
for Jones personally, but for the subsequent development of British architecture. Jones also
owned numbers of drawings by Scamozzi himself,
including a very early project for the villa Ferramosca (ill. 5)6, a project for the Rialto bridge7,
and studies for illustrations of the Idea, including
a set of sketched designs for the layout of the
plates relating to Scamozzis own buildings, now
preserved at Chatsworth8. One book from
Scamozzis library, a translation of Strabo, is preserved among Joness books at Worcester College, Oxford9. At some stage Jones probably had
access to the contents (apparently lost) of the two
chests (due forzieri) of Scamozzis drawings,
listed in the inventory of Lord Arundels effects
drawn up in Padua in 165510. We can conjecture
that it was Jones who negotiated this purchase
with Scamozzi, between 1613 and 1614, when
the principal preoccupation of the aging architect would have been the publication of his massive treatise, and the funding of the foundation
to support successive Vicentine architects ready
to assume his name: projects which required as
much money as possible11. A younger architect

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3. Inigo Jones, sketches and his own name

and that of Palladio, on a blank page in his
copy of Andrea Palladio, I quattro libri
dellarchitettura, Venezia 1601 (Oxford,
Worcester College; by Courtesy of the
Provost and Fellows of Worcester College).
4. Vincenzo Scamozzi, LIdea della
Architettura Universale, Venezia 1615:
Joness corrections on printing errors in the
page numbers in the index to the Parte
Prima (Oxford, Worcester College;
by Courtesy of the Provost and Fellows
of Worcester College).

would not have parted with his own drawings (or

those of Palladio) in that they constituted an invaluable resource in the exercise of his profession.
It is interesting to note that Jones implies
there seems to be little ambiguity in what he
writes that he had seen Scamozzis reconstruction of the villa of the ancients before it was published in the Idea in 1615, in other words that he
had seen it in Vicenza between 1613 e 1614. The
passage (written in the margin of Joness copy of
the Quattro Libri, II, p. 69) reads: Scamozo utterly dislikes this desine of Paladio and hath
maad on wch must comm fowrth in his book as
far in my opignion from Vittruuious as this,
that is to say Palladios reconstruction of the Roman villa, as described by Vitruvius12. We should
also observe the situation documented by the
note: Jones is discussing a plate in Palladios
Quattro Libri with Scamozzi, quite possibly in his
house, where Scamozzis own still unpublished reconstruction would have been accessible. In another marginal note he records discussing vaults
with Scamozzi: Friday the first of August 1614
I spoake wth Scamozo in this matter and he hath
resolved me in this in the manner of voltes13.
And Scamozzi (together with Palma il Giovane)
was the source for the information that the design for Palazzo Thiene was originally provided
by Giulio Romano14.
Jones owned a large number of Palladios
drawings, had seen many of his works, and been
able to compare them with the plates in the
Quattro Libri, which has his constant companion.
But he had never known Palladio personally.
Scamozzi, however, was perhaps the only truly
great Italian architect with whom he was able to
converse with at length and know intimately.

Joness close acquaintance with Scamozzi himself, his works, drawings, treatise and at least one
of the books he had owned, makes the Vicentine
architect a unique presence in Joness self-education and reflections. The question of the extent
and character of the influence of the Vicentine
architect on the innovative Englishman, the true
founder of a new architecture in the Kingdom, is
in fact central to our understanding of Jones.

Jones and Palladio

Before examining Jones knowledge of Scamozzi,
and his reactions to his work and ideas, it is perhaps useful to return to Joness debt to Palladio.
After his return to England in 1614, as is well
known, Jones started modelling his architecture
and his drawing style on that of Palladio. His
1616 plan project for the Queens House resembles Palladios work not only in the introduction
of spiral stairs revolving round an open centre,
the hall with a cross vault resting on four
columns but in the draughting style and graphic conventions (for instance the indication of the
cross vault and of window openings)15. His elevation of the same date for the Queens House is
similarly close to Palladios designs for palace
facades16. The same dependence on Palladios
graphic modes can be seen in his plan for a new
Star Chamber of 161717, and his projects for the
plan and elevation of the Banqueting House18.
His later facade project for the building19, recalls
palace facade designs of Palladio, while with its
central pediment, which brackets and emphasises the central section, it recalls Palladios project
for rebuilding the Doges palace after the disastrous fire of 157720. Twenty years later Jones
succeeded in realizing what Palladio was never
able to have built, a great portico in front of St

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5. Vincenzo Scamozzi, project for the Villa

Ferramosca, Barbano, detail (London, RIBA,
British Architectural Library, Drawings
Collection; after Vincenzo Scamozzi
1548-1616, eds. F. Barbieri
and G. Beltramini, Venezia 2003).

Pauls Cathedral, resembling the Pantheon-like

portico which Palladio had proposed for San
Petronio in a design which Jones owned, now at
Worcester College21.
The executed facade of the Banqueting
House dispenses with the central pediment, but
through the presence of four half columns in
each order echoes both the Doges palace design and two storey villas, like the Villa Cornaro
at Piombino Dese and Villa Pisani at Montagnana. There remains a debt too to buildings
with superimposed orders, like Palazzo Chiericati or Palazzo Barbaran. At the Banqueting
House, however, the bases do not rest on the
street, as they do at Palazzo Barbaran. Instead
they are raised on a rusticated podium, like that
of a temple, or Palladios Redentore, or several
of his villa designs.
Though quotations or rather paraphrases,
adapted to new contexts of Palladio are frequent in Joness works, we can perhaps best characterise his relation to the great architect by saying that Joness sought not to copy him, or even
imitate him in a narrow sense, but rather to design
like him, in terms of attention to typologies, rational principles, the works of the ancients, the
need to modify details of the orders in relation to
the visual context in which they appeared, or the
function or budget of the building, or simply to
provide some element of surprise or novelty. By
the time Jones had returned from his Italian journey of 1613-14, he had in fact acquired a profound understanding of Palladios ideas and procedures, which he constantly reinforced by the
study not only of the Quattro Libri, but (as Gordon Higgott has shown) of Barbaros Vitruvius22,
and the works of other architectural writers, including above all Scamozzi.

Rather than simply copying, Jones sets out to

extend and complete the work of Palladio. The
Banqueting House is a free combination of two
compositions which Palladio was never able to
construct: his design for the facade of the Ducal
Palace in Venice23, and his reconstruction of the
Egyptian Hall24. His choir screen for Winchester
cathedral, with its echoes of the lower part of
Palladios monument to Doge Alvise Mocenigo
in Santi Giovanni e Paolo, would have seemed
appropriate in any Venetian church, had it not
been that traditional choirs (and therefore their
screens), which were preserved in England, were
in Italy now fast going out of fashion25. St Pauls
Covent Garden offers a solution for a relatively
small and inexpensive church on a public square,
with residential and market functions, of a sort
which Palladio might have built: it is based on
his Tuscan order, his reconstruction of the Etruscan temple in the Barbaros Vitruvius, and his
formula for villa (and barn) porticoes hence the
characterisation attributed to Jones (it is not
known whether the anecdote is true or apocryphal) of the church as the handsomest barn in
England26. And as we have seen the vast portico
which Jones built in front of St Pauls Cathedral
recalls the porticoes which Palladio was never
able to build on the facades of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice, and San Petronio in Bologna.
Smaller elements in Joness buildings tend
not to correspond exactly to models available in
the treatise and works of Palladio. The Ionic
capitals of the Banqueting House are close to
Scamozzis published capital for the order, with
the volutes canted out diagonally, but Palladio
also employed this variant of the capital, as in the
vestibule of Palazzo Barbaran in Vicenza. The
entablature, with a pulvinated frieze, has points
in common both with Palladio and Scamozzi
(Idea, II, 7); the Composite capitals are higher
than any Palladio or Scamozzi used, possibly to
compensate for foreshortening in this tall building. At St Pauls, like Michelangelo at the Palazzo Farnese, Jones had full scale wooden models
of details constructed, so as to assess their visual
effect, and if necessary, adjust them27. Nor can
we match the window frames exactly with any in
Palladios repertoire. All of which points to the
fact that not only did Jones not photocopy any
particular building of Palladio in his own works,
but freely combines elements from numbers of
sources, invents and varies spontaneously, often using ideas which are not present in Palladios buildings or designs. Jones in fact in his architectural compositions demonstrates a position exactly similar to that of his contemporary
and collaborator in the realization of court
Masques, the great Ben Jonson. Jonson writes on
imitation in literature: One, though he be excellent, and the chief, is not to be imitated alone.

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6. Inigo Jones, unexecuted design for a villa

(the Queens House at Greenwich?)
(London, RIBA, British Architectural Library,
Drawings Collection; after J. Harris,
G. Higgott, Inigo Jones. Complete
architectural drawings, New York-London
1989, cat. 516).
7. Lonigo (Vicenza), Rocca Pisana
(architect Vincenzo Scamozzi), view into
the circular sala.

For never no imitator, ever grew up to his author; []28. For Jones, though Palladio was undoubtedly excellent, and the chief, he was nevertheless not the only architect to be observed
and followed. Jones also valued his own position,
his own achievement. He signs Palladios
name; but he also signs his own.

Jones and Scamozzis architecture

Once Joness freedom as a designer, his commitment to varying with reason, as he puts it,
paraphrasing an important idea of Daniele Barbaro, reflected also in Palladios book29, is recognized, it surprises us less that Jones not only
quotes frequently and freely from Scamozzi, but
incorporates elements from Scamozzis buildings
into his own basic vocabulary.
He starts to do so soon after his return from
Italy. His unexecuted design for a villa (ill. 6), to
be dated to about 1617, with a central circular
room, and deep niches bitten into its corners, is
a clear quotation from Scamozzis Rocca Pisana
(ill. 7)30.
It is not possible to date Joness design for a
scene with Cupids Pallas (ill. 8) exactly, but
the building which occupies the central position
is a conflation of elements drawn from the facade and the cortile of Scamozzis Palazzo Trissi-

no (ill. 9) on the Corso in Vicenza31. The elevation of one side of the cortile however has come
to dominate in the final state of the drawing,
which shows that Jones had a drawing his own
or Scamozzis of this feature as it is not illustrated in the Idea. The order is Ionic: possibly a
correction on Joness part of what he singles out
as an error in the building: a great Pallas begon
by Scamozio but ye order wthin agreith not wth
that without wch is an Ionicke Portico but within is Dorricke and lower32.
Jones did not only observe Scamozzis works
closely, but quoted from them.
In the Cupids Pallas design, the upper part of
the elevation shows a central arched window
flanked by rectangular openings. This scheme,
which appears in the Palazzo Trissino cortile, is
used several times by Jones. It can be seen in a
design for the Princes Lodging at Newmarket33
(ill. 10). In a latterly expanded version it is employed on the North facade of the Queens
House at Greenwich. And it appears yet again
on the facade of the Queens Chapel. In every
case the scheme is rather closer to Scamozzi than
it is to analogous motifs in Palladios work like
the arched windows on the facade and at the
sides of the Villa Barbaro at Maser, which Palladio would also have had in mind when he adopted this solution. We can also note that the use of
wash, and the lively free hand execution of the
two Newmarket Palace drawings34 and even of
the two elevation drawings for the Banqueting
House facade35 (ill. 11). These drawings have the
spontaneity and informality of Scamozzis
sketches for plates showing his own buildings in
the Idea, which Jones owned, while the use of

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8. Inigo Jones, for a scene with Cupids

Pallas, detail, 1619 or after (Chatsworth,
the Trustees of the Chatsworth Settlement,
Devonshire Collections, Orgel & Strong
113; after Vincenzo Scamozzi
1548-1616, cit.).
9. Vicenza, Palazzo Trissino Baston, view
of the cortile.

wash resembles, for instance, that of Scamozzis

design for linking the Procuratie Nuove to
Sansovinos Libreria (ill. 12)36.
In his notes in his copy of the Quattro Libri
Jones directly mentions another motif which he
has derived from Scamozzi, namely the insertion
of the parapet cornice of the balustrade into the
columns on the facade of the Queens House towards the park. The passage (QL, IV, p. 105)
reads: [] the raill of the parrapett or leaning
must bee lett in to the boddy of the collome as I
did at Gree(n)wich in ye portico tourdes the
parke, and as I have seene at Ponte della Cagnia
near Padoa in a villa of Clarimo Molin. A comparison of the two balustrades illustrates Joness
observation. In a further note (QL, IV, p. 24)
Jones refers again to the portico of the Villa
Molin: a work which had clearly impressed him,
and of which he must have made at least sketches, which are now lost.

Scamozzi in Joness notes in his copy

of the Quattro Libri
If we pass from the quotations from Scamozzi in
Joness drawings and built works to mentions of
Scamozzi in his marginal notes in the Quattro
Libri we find Scamozzi referred to frequently, in
a variety of contexts. Sometimes he is simply the
source of information or comment, as when he
informs Jones that Giulio Romano was the designer of Palazzo Thiene, or when he expresses
his disapproval of Palladios reconstruction of
the ancient villa. Jones feels Scamozzi betrays
hostility towards Palladio: all of which sheaues
ye ignorance and malise of Scamotzio against
Paladio (QL, I, p. 24). Scamozzi is criticized for

copying Palladio without acknowledging his

debt: From hence Scamotzio took the proportions of cornicements in roofs and so he did in
most of the things he did mesureing thes thinges
Palla writ not of he maad rules for them (ibid.,
II, p. 28). Then he taxes Scamozzi with being
purblind, probably in a metaphorical sense
rather than indicating that he had defective
sight. Noat the ancientes, Jones notes, when
a cornish stood farr from the eye maad the members great and som times Put modiglions in the
freese wch mad Arrchitrave freese and Cornish
sheau affar of all on cornish. this Secrat
Scamozio being purblind under stoode nott. Se
ye Colloses ye upper order. Ser[lio]: fo. 65. Li.
337. Jones clearly is thinking of the upper trabeation of the Colosseum, whose unconventional but effective design had already been observed
and imitated by Leon Battista Alberti38.
Joness comments on Scamozzi are not however all negative, as when, for instance (QL, I, p.
42) he writes that Scamozio is ye best in the
matter of the construction of the Corinthian
capital, outdoing both Palladio and Vignola.

The notes in Joness copy of Scamozzis Idea

If we turn from Joness copy of the Quattro Libri,
to his copy of the Idea of Scamozzi, where he has
written the date of acquisition March 25
1617 on the title page (ill. 13), we find a similar variety of notes, though, disappointingly, no
further direct references to Scamozzis built
works, or to Joness quotations from them.
Scamozzi began his annotation of the Idea
years after he started exploring and pondering the
text of the Quattro Libri. By 1617 he was an expe-

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10. Inigo Jones, project for the Princes

Lodging at Newmarket (after Harris,
Higgott, Inigo Jones, cit., cat. 31, p. 103).
11. Inigo Jones, project for the facade of
the Banqueting House, detail (London, RIBA,
British Architectural Library, Drawings
Collection; after Harris, Higgott, Inigo
Jones, cit., cat. 33, p. 110).
12. Vincenzo Scamozzi, project for linking
the Procuratie Nuove with Sansovinos
Library (Firenze, Galleria degli Uffizi,
Gabinetto Disegni e Stampe, 194 A;
after Vincenzo Scamozzi 1548-1616, cit.).

rienced, learned reader, with a full knowledge of

Italian and Italian architectural vocabulary, and a
close acquaintance with other texts, starting with
the Quattro Libri, which he cites so as to illuminate or criticize Scamozzi39. His character of specialist a specialist in architectural theory and
above all in architectural design shows in the
way in which his notes are concentrated on certain chapters and areas of the massive book: the
passages relating to design and drawing, to
Scamozzis own buildings, where he often adds
rubrics to the plans, and the many pages dealing
with the orders, where his marginal notes often
assume the character of a detailed commentary.
His annotations cannot be said to be hostile
to Scamozzi, who is sometimes praised for particular solutions of detail, and who is often im-

plicitly approved for more general ideas regarding architecture or the architect.
Jones gives little attention as an annotator to
the lengthy sections on building materials either too obvious for him, or too related to the
Italian context. Similarly he does not enter into
discussion with Scamozzi for that is what essentially he is doing in his marginalia on antiquarian or historical matters40.
The notes impress by their serious, professional and completely private character. They
are made exclusively for himself, as aids in the
development of his critical understanding of the
subject matter and as an aid in designing. He is
therefore concerned both with general principles and with defining preferred proportions or
motifs, as when he enters into a detailed discussion of the orders and their parts. Jones is not
writing for anyone but himself: he is not seeking
to impress, convince, dissimulate, or conceal. He
is not hostile to Scamozzi, though, having
known him personally, he permits himself a few
apparently amused asides. Thus he writes (Idea,
I, 197) against a plate of fortifications: thes cavaliri ar taken from carlo totti li.1. fo. 19 &
Scamozi make it his owne invention as his manor
is [])41. He points out the derivation of a villa
plan from Palladios Villa Godi at Lonedo, thus
again painting Scamozzi as a plagiarist42. And he
notes with evident relish the recurrence of
passages hostile to Genoa and the Genovesi43.

Joness attention to general ideas

on architecture and architects in the Idea
Jones is particularly attentive to general concepts presented in the Idea, which in some cases
are not to be found in Vitruvius or Palladio, and
often confirmed Jones own views. Unlike the

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13. Inigo Jones, the date of acquisition,

March 25 1617, written on the title page
of Scamozzi, LIdea, cit. (Oxford,
Worcester College; by Courtesy of the
Provost and Fellow of Worcester College).

dense cross-referenced annotations in the chapters on the orders, Inigo merely translates, paraphrases, labels or underlines these passages of a
more general nature. For the most part he singles out statements which relate to the factors
which most condition a design (climate, the
character of the site, the social position of the
patron), the standing of the architect, the best
approach in the elaboration of inventions, the
central importance of the example of the ancients, and the techniques of architectural drawing. These marginal notes constitute a sort of
miniature but independent equivalent to the
general account of architecture given by Sir
Henry Wotton in his Elements of Architecture
(1624)44. Jones was well acquainted with Wotton,
a former ambassador in Venice and owner of a
group of drawings by Palladio, as emerges from
notes in Joness copy of Palladio45.
We can compile a brief anthology of such
notes, grouping them by subject:
Architectural theory
in this part architecture houlds much of Philosofi
morrall &naturall (I, 9).
Climate
Jones writes in the margin of Idea (I, 223) Diference of build[in]gs according to ye Contry (ill.
14), against the passage which begins perch altro si pu fare nella nostra Italia [underlined by
Jones]; diverso nella Spagna, e differente nella
Francia, e nella Germania, & altrove. This idea
was also developed by Sir Henry Wotton in his
book of 1624, where he pithily states that A good
Parler in gypt would make perchance a good
Celler in England46.
Sites
Irregular seate reduced to regular forme (I, 121).
Dispraise of sitti foro [i.e. fuori] di squadro (I, 224).

Inventions and design

Experience serves art more tha[n] invention (I,
46-48).
Easy and simple inventions the best and imitate
nature in the body of a man (I, 46).
On must mak morr than one invention (I, 46, 22).
The passage pi duna inventione is underlined.
How designs ought to be made unaffected (I,
46-48).
What is commendable in invention is the beautiful union of the parts, of site and form (I, 46-48).
Croked lines in inventions blamed (I, 46).
Answering of doures and windowes commended
(I, 46-48).
What modulo is (I,47).
Architectural drawing
comendation of Designe (I, 47).
Stillo of ivorio [to]draw ded lines (I, 48). Linee
morte is the term used by Scamozzi for lines incised in the paper with a stylus, a system widely
used by architects for preliminary drawings.
Painted designes blamed (I, 48).
washing of ye Designes(I, 48).
noting on a paper ye length and broadnes (I, 48).
Scamozzis method of recording the main dimensions of a project drawing on strips of paper which
he kept for future reference.
Social aspects of architecture
a ma[n] judged by his howse (I, 225; ill. 15).
The Architect
Per mantenere il grado e reputatione dellarchitetto [] (I, 28). Jones indicates this paragraph with a pointing finger.
What the contrahr is to the Architect (I, 29).
Architecture and the Ancients
All that we have in building of good and faire is
bye traditio[n] fro[m] the Ancients (I, 225; ill. 16).

Conclusions
Jones knew Scamozzi well his personality, opinions, ideas, writings, buildings and drawings. He
had discussed architectural matters with him,
looked at unpublished drawings with him, and
heard his opinions of Palladio. No other English
designer had ever acquired such a complete
knowledge of the work and ideas of a leading
Italian architect. From Scamozzi Jones probably
acquired his habit of densely annotating his
books, and of placing cross-references in the
margin to other books where the same topic is
discussed as Vincenzo Scamozzi does throughout his printed treatise. Even Jones practice of
signing his name on his books and on his drawings probably derives from the Vicentine: no surviving drawing by Palladio bears his signature.
At the same time it is clear from the dense
and constantly revisited notes on his copy of
the Quattro Libri that Jones primary point of
reference for design principles and formulae,
for the orders, for ancient and modern building

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14. Inigo Jones, marginal note on Scamozzi,

LIdea, cit., I, p. 223 (Oxford, Worcester
College; by Courtesy of the Provost and Fellows of Worcester College).
15. Inigo Jones, marginal note on Scamozzi,
LIdea, cit., I, p. 225 (Oxford, Worcester
College; by Courtesy of the Provost and Fellows of Worcester College).
16. Inigo Jones, marginal note on Scamozzi,
LIdea, cit., I, p. 225 (Oxford, Worcester
College; by Courtesy of the Provost and Fellows of Worcester College).

types, for knowledge of the antique remained

Palladio. But by using motifs and ideas taken
from Scamozzi (and others) Jones preserved his
vitality and personality as a designer, while
maintaining the centrality of his dialogue and
identification with Palladio. Jones signs his own
name and Palladios repeatedly on the same
page, but does not imitate a signature which he
knew well, that of the other great Vicentine architect. It is striking, however, how often
Joness makes use of motifs and compositional
schemes derived from Scamozzi: his fireplace
types, his Ionic order, and above all the arched
window opening, flanked by rectangular windows, as well as the baluster solution of the Villa Molin, transplanted to the Queens House.
This openness to motifs derived from Scamozzi
is in keeping with Joness general view of architecture, which ultimately derives from Palladios theory and actual practice, which encouraged varying within sensible limits, and
where (as Jones knew, at least in the case of
Palazzo Thiene) borrowings from contemporaries are not infrequent, though never acknowledged in the Quattro Libri. It is moreover
significant that Jones in practice (and sometimes in his marginalia) recognises Scamozzis
language as compatible with his own.
Specific borrowings from Scamozzis buildings and designs in the English architects work
do not however give the full measure of
Scamozzis importance for Jones. This importance lies both in the ideas on architecture which
Inigo could find in Scamozzis book and in the
fact that the Vicentine architect functioned as an
imaginary debating partner for him. Scamozzi
also offered to Jones not only a written account
of the role and desirable social standing of the
architect, but a living model of how to maintain
the prestige of ones person and profession. That
Jones, notwithstanding his socially undistinguished origins, attached great importance to his
status, is clear from Ben Jonsons violent poetic
assaults on the intellectual and social pretensions
of Mr. Surveyor47.
Scamozzi for Joness possessed the notable
virtue of not being Palladio: that is of sometimes

being purblind, infelicitous in his architectural choices, malicious, disposed to borrow without acknowledgment, and hence palpably inferior to Palladio (and to Jones himself). Scamozzi
was a real master for the Englishman, but above
all because he was a master with whom he could
disagree, argue, and thereby clarify his own ideas
and reinforce his architectural personality and
perhaps his own ego. These debates perhaps began in Vicenza; they certainly continued in the
margins of the Idea and of the Quattro Libri. In
the Quattro Libri marginalia, the difference from
Palladio, and the weaker points of Scamozzi
were one can say dramatised, by an artist who
knew the stage and its strategies intimately.
Joness observations were written only for himself (and are all the more credible for this, unlike
Ben Jonsons public dramatisation (and perhaps
exaggeration) of Joness foibles: his concern with
his status and reputation as an architect, his determination to display his knowledge and learning48. In the notes in the Idea, in contrast, apart
from a few amused and knowing asides, Jones
reads Scamozzi as a respected colleague, from
whom there is much to learn.
Scamozzi amused, provoked, informed and
stimulated Jones intellectually. Scamozzi made
Jones clarify his ideas and decide whether,
when and why Palladio offered the best prescriptions and models. Jones certainly creates
and embellishes his Scamozo as a personage
in his own interior architectural drama, just as
Jonson creates Volpone, or the Inigo of his
satires. But at the same time Scamozzi taught
Jones to study architecture intensively, critically, comparatively. While Joness debt to Palladio is enormous, we should always remember
that though he had read Palladio and examined
his works, he had actually known Scamozzi. It
was contact with Scamozzi and his book which
contributed substantially to making the brilliant English stage designer a real intellectual,
and a learned, reflective architect who could
weigh the views of others, and arrive at his own
position and his own project, without being unduly indebted to any master, including even his
hero and alter ego Palladio.

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This text largely follows that read at the

Istituto Olandese di Storia dellArte in
Florence. My view of the importance of
Scamozzi for Jones built architecture is
in accord with the conclusions of the first
section of Giles Worsleys important contribution to this collection of essays: rereading it when revising my paper for
publication could only strengthen the
sense of loss which architectural history
has suffered as a result of the death of a
great and creative historian of English
classicising architecture and of the work
of Inigo Jones.
I have tried at the last minute to cross-reference the notes with would-be Jonesian
diligence to the many pertinent passages
in the illuminating new book of Christy
Anderson, Inigo Jones and the Classical Tradition, Cambridge 2006, which is essential
for the understanding of Jones as a reader
and his use of his written and visual
sources.
I am indebted to Dr. Joanna Parker, Librarian of Worcester College, Oxford,
for her help when I was studying Joness
copy of Scamozzis Idea, and to Dr. Silvia
Moretti for her constant support in seeing this essay through the press.
Abbreviations used here:
Idea: Vincenzo Scamozzi, LIdea della Architettura Universale, Parte Prima,
Parte Seconda, In Venetia, Presso lAutore, MDCXV. References are given simply to the Part and to the page within the
two Parts, which correspond to the first
and second volume of the work (i.e. I,
213; II, 45 etc.): the individual books and
the chapters into which the Parts are divided are not cited.
Quattro Libri: Andrea Palladio, I quattro
libri dellarchitettura, Venezia 1570. I have
used the abbreviation QL to indicate
Joness copy of book, preserved at
Worcester College, Oxford (the third
edition, published in Venice in 1601).
Scamozzi 2003: Vincenzo Scamozzi 15481616, exhibition catalogue (Vicenza, Museo
Palladio, Palazzo Barbaran da Porto, 7 September 2003-11 January 2004), eds. F. Barbieri and G. Beltramini, Venezia 2003.
1. Joness copying of Palladio was reproduced in semi-facsimile in B. Allsopp
(ed.), Inigo Jones on Palladio, being the notes
by Inigo Jones in the copy of I quattro libri
dellarchitettura di Andrea Palladio, 1601,
in the Library of Worcester College, Oxford,
I-II, Newcastle upon Tyne 1970. The
page is reproduced and discussed in Ch.
Anderson, Inigo Jones and the Classical
Tradition, Cambridge 2006, pp. 114-119.
2. Allsopp (ed.), Inigo Jones, cit. [cf. note 1], I, p. 63: but this sheaues that Palladio never saw this temple [the Maison
Carre at Nmes] for tear are no folage in
the freese of the front []. Jones was
right: Palladio based his plates of Nmes
not on direct observation but on Poldo
dAlbenas book on the antiquities of the
city: Jean Poldo d Albenas, Discours historial de lantique et illustre Cit de Nismes
en la Gaule Narbonaise, Lyon 1559. See
H. Spielmann, Palladio und die Antike,
Mnchen-Berlin 1966, p. 48.
3. Joness notes on the pages of the Quattro
Libri dedicated to the Palazzo Thiene have
often been discussed: for reproductions see
Allsopp (ed.), Inigo Jones, cit. [cf. note 1],
II, and for transcriptions, ibid., I, pp. 12-14.

4. For the passages on Scamozzis lack of

visual judgment see below.
5. Idea, I, Indice, Horologlio: Jones has
correctly changed the two references to
p. 156, to 152, and that to p. 155, to
151.
6. G. Beltramini, 1a. Vincenzo Scamozzi,
Progetto per villa Ferramosca a Barbano
(1546-1565 ca.), in Scamozzi 2003, pp.
145-149.
7. A. Hopkins, 30a. Vincenzo Scamozzi,
Sezione ed elevazione del primo progetto con
la soluzione a tre archi per il ponte di Rialto
a Venezia (dicembre 1587-gennaio 1588),
in Scamozzi 2003, p. 286.

and H. Burns, Venezia 2005, p. 75.

Scamozzis villa (Idea, I, 284), as Jones indicates, is completely different from Palladios: Jones in his note (QL, II, p. 69; Allsopp (ed.), Inigo Jones, cit. [cf. note 1], I,
p. 31) is critical both of Palladio and
Scamozzi but even more of the latter; he
is also familiar with Pliny the Youngers
descriptions of his villas: Scamozo makes
ye kycchen in ye back part of the house
and in no Cortill nether wch is most
against the text of Vi: Alluding more to an
Epistel of Plinny then other.

Barbieri, H. Burns, S. Tortora, 5. La villa per Vettor Pisani a Lonigo, detta la Rocca (1574), in Scamozzi 2003, pp. 163180.
31. On the palace (and Joness drawing
for the Cupids Pallas masque) see F. Barbieri, H. Burns, 31. Palazzo Trissino Baston sul Corso a Vicenza (1588), ibid., pp.
288-296.
32. Allsopp (ed.), Inigo Jones, cit. [cf.
note 1], I, p. 2.

13. QL, I, p. 54: transcribed in Allsopp

(ed.), Inigo Jones, cit. [cf. note 1], p. 13,
and Anderson, Inigo Jones, cit. [cf. note
1], p. 171.

33. Harris, Higgott, Inigo Jones, cit. [cf.

note 15], p. 103, cat. 31.

8. See for these drawings the following

catalogue entries in Scamozzi 2003: G.
Beltramini, 1b. Vincenzo Scamozzi, Planimetria e prospetto di villa Ferramosca a Barbano, pp. 148-150; Id., 4a. Vincenzo Scamozzi, Pianta e due prospetti di villa Verlato a Villaverla, and 4b. Vincenzo Scamozzi,
Pianta e prospetto di villa Verlato a Villaverla, pp. 158-160; F. Barbieri, 5a. Vincenzo
Scamozzi, Pianta, alzato e sezione della Rocca Pisana, pp. 173-175; A. Pesavento, 6a.
Vincenzo Scamozzi, Pianta e prospetto di palazzo Trissino al Duomo, pp. 185-187; A.
Tiso, 13b. Vincenzo Scamozzi, Pianta e
prospetto laterale del convento e chiesa di San
Gaetano a Padova, pp. 229-231; Hopkins,
30a. Vincenzo Scamozzi, Sezione ed elevazione, cit. [cf. note 7], p. 286; G. Beltramini, 49a. Vincenzo Scamozzi, Sei studi
planimetrici per villa Priuli a Carrara, pp.
363-365.

14. QL, II, p. 14 (Allsopp [ed.], Inigo

Jones, cit. [cf. note 1], I, p. 22):
Scamozo and Palmo saith that thes designes wear of Julio Romano and executed by Palladio and so yt seemes.

35. Ibid., pp. 110-112, cat. 33 and 34.

9. Strabo, La prima parte della geographia,

Venezia, Francesco Senese, 1562.
Scamozzi has written De Libri di Vincenzo Scamozzi with calligraphic elegance on the front flyleaf of the book: see
Anderson, Inigo Jones, cit. [cf. note 1],
p. 66, where the page is also reproduced.
It is not clear whether the book was sold
or given to Jones by Scamozzi.

21. D. Lewis, The Drawings of Andrea

Palladio, New Orleans 2000, pp. 256 ff.

10. D. Howarth, Lord Arundel and his

Circle, New Haven (CT), 1985, p. 185
and n. 52 (citing M. Hervey, The Life,
Correspondence and Collections of Thomas
Howard, Earl of Arundel, Cambridge
1921, p. 487, no. 320). Hervey translates
the inventory; the original text in Italian
is published by M. Cox and L. Cust,
Notes on the Collections formed by Thomas
Howard, in The Burlington Magazine,
19, 1911, pp. 282-286 and 323-325.

24. Quattro Libri, II, pp. 41-42.

11. L. Olivato Puppi, Per la storia di un

lascito: da Vincenzo Scamozzi a Bartolomeo
Malacarne, in Atti dellIstituto Veneto di
Scienze, Lettere ed Arti, 133, 1974-75,
pp. 347-369; G. Beltramini, A3. Testamento di Vincenzo Scamozzi, 1602, 2 settembre, in Scamozzi 2003, pp. 533-534.
12. Anderson, Inigo Jones, cit. [cf. note
1], p. 65. Only Palladio (Quattro Libri, II,
pp. 69-70) before Scamozzi had attempted a reconstruction of the Roman
agricultural villa as described by Vitruvius. For an evaluation of his relative
success in this difficult task see H. Burns,
Palladio e la villa, in Andrea Palladio e la
Villa Veneta da Petrarca a Carlo Scarpa,
exhibition catalogue (Vicenza, Museo
Palladio, Palazzo Barbaran da Porto, 5
March-3 July 2005), eds. G. Beltramini

15. J. Harris, G. Higgott, Inigo Jones.

Complete architectural drawings, LondonNew York, p. 66, cat. 13.
16. Ibid., p. 68, cat. 14.
17. Ibid., p. 98, cat. 29.

34. Ibid., p. 103, cat. 30 and 31.

36. See note 8 above for an indication of

the drawings, now all at Chatsworth.
One can also note the resemblance between the rather simplified rendering of
the architectural forms, and the way in
which wash is used, to Scamozzi drawings, like his study for the linking of
Procuratie Nuove with the Libreria (A.
Hopkins, 12a. Vincenzo Scamozzi, Progetto per linnesto fra la Libreria sansoviniana e
le Procuratie Nuove, in Scamozzi 2003, pp.
216-217).

18. Ibid., pp. 110-115, cat. 33-35.

19. Ibid., p. 112, cat. 34.
20. For an illustration see B. Boucher,
Andrea Palladio. The Architect in his Time,
New York-London-Paris 1998, p. 284.

22. G. Higgott, Varying with reason: Inigo

Joness theory of design, in Architectural
History, 35, 1992, pp. 51-77.
23. Boucher, Andrea Palladio, cit. [cf.
note 17], p. 284, fig. 282.

25. For the Winchester screen see J. Summerson, Inigo Jones, New Haven 2000, pp.
120-121, and Harris, Higgott, Inigo
Jones, cit. [cf. note 16], pp. 248-249.
The changes in the placing of the Choir
in Venice and the Veneto between 1550
and 1650 is the subject of an important
forthcoming study by Massimo Bisson.
26. Summerson, Inigo Jones, cit. [cf. note
25], pp. 79-83.
27. This idea is suggested by Higgott,
Varying with reason, cit. [cf. note 19],
pp. 70-71, where Higgott also refers to
the construction of full size wooden
models of details for the St Pauls Cathedral facade, so as to judge of the in situ effect of his designs.
28. Timber: or Discoveries, in Ben Jonson,
The Complete Poems, ed. G. Parfitt, Harmondsworth 1996, p. 401; cfr. in the
same work pp. 448-449.
29. Higgott, Varying with reason, cit.
[cf. note 19]; Quattro Libri, I, pp. 51-52
(Cap. XX, De gli abusi).
30. On Scamozzis masterpiece see F.

37. The note is in the upper margin of

Joness copy of the Quattro Libri, I, p. 50:
it is transcribed by Allsopp (ed.), Inigo
Jones, cit. [cf. note 1], I, p. 12, and
commented on (and transcribed more
accurately) by Higgott, Varying with reason, cit. [cf. note 19], p. 65. In the left
hand margin of the same page Jones
makes a similar criticism of Scamozzi for
not understanding the need to adjust details according to how architectural elements would be seen: Scamozo Li 6 fo
20 taxeth Palladio for this cornish
wrongfully for having fewe members under ye modigliones not knowing that ye
modigliones & 2 faccie stod far from ye
eye (quoted ibid., p. 75, n. 60).
38. H. Burns, Leon Battista Alberti, in F.P.
Fiore (ed.), Storia dell Architettura Italiana. Il Quattrocento, Milano 1998, p.136.
39. On Jones as a reader and annotator of
the books in his own library see now Anderson, Inigo Jones, cit. [cf. note 1].
40. Christy Anderson suggestively entitles her fourth chapter Conversations
with the Dead (ibid., pp. 88 ff.). One
can recall that Machiavelli writes of his
conversational exchanges with the ancients: see the letter to Francesco Vettori of 10 December 1513, in N. Machiavelli, Lettere, ed. F. Gaeta, Milano 1961,
p. 304.
41. Jones is referring to the book of Carlo
Theti (or Teti), Discorsi di fortificazioni, of
which four editions are recorded: Roma,
G. Accolto, 1569; Venezia, B. Zaltiero,
1575; Venezia, F. de Franceschi, N.
Moretti, 1589; Vicenza, G. de Franceschi,
1617. No copy of this work belonging to
Jones is now known, but presumably the
book was present in his library.
42. Idea, I, p. 281. In the margin of the
plate of Fabriche della Ill. Casa Cornera
al Paradiso, Jones writes: A [he also in-

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scribed the letter A in the sala of the villa]

/ this invention is taken from palladio fo.
65 lonedo. Thus Jones has noted the
close dependence of the plan of Scamozzis
villa on that of the Villa Godi of Palladio.
On the Villa Cornaro see V. Benacchio, R.
Meggidaro, S. Turolla, 67. Villa Cornaro a
Castelfranco Veneto, detta il Paradiso
(1607), in Scamozzi 2003, pp. 419-420.
43. Idea, I, p. 314, 32-33. Scamozzi writes:
Di questa sorte di scale disegnammo
nelle inventioni mandate a Genova, le
quali furono poco capite di l; []. Jones
underlines the key phrase, and writes in
the margin: Still Scamzo hass (?) a flirrt
(?) at ye Genovese.
44. Henry Wotton, The Elements of Architecture, London, John Bill, 1624. On the
work, and for the literature relating to it,
see H. Burns, 7. Sir Henry Wotton, The
Elements Of Architecture, London 1624, in
Palladio and Northern Europe. Books, Travellers, Architects, exhibition catalogue (Vicenza, Palazzo Barbaran da Porto, 27
March-13 June 1999), texts by G. Beltramini et al., Milano 1999, pp. 62-63.
45. See the notes in the lower margin of
QL, I, pp. 12, 36, 50 (A drawing of this
Sr He: Wotto. The first he did for this
booke); QL, II, p. 9.
46. Wotton, The Elements of Architecture,
cit. [cf. note 39], p. 10.
47. See An Expostulation with Inigo Jones,
To Inigo, Marquess Would Be, a Corollary,
and To a Friend, An Epigram of Him, in
Ben Jonson, The Complete Poems, cit. [cf.
note 25], pp. 345-349. The negative reactions of the papal agent Gregorio Panzani, not so different from those of Ben
Jonson, appear in his despatches from
London: see R. Wittkower, Inigo Jones.
Puritanissimo Fiero, reprinted from The
Burlington Magazine, XC, 1948, in Id.,
Palladio and English Palladianism, London
1983, pp. 67-70.
48. See the note above and Summerson,
Inigo Jones, cit. [cf. note 25], pp. 105-108.

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