Palladian Revival in Britain

Palladianism - some definitions

• The term Palladian can be used to refer to any architectural style based on the
work of Andrea Palladio, whether it be by his Italian contemporaries or by the
numerous architectural practices operating around the world today.
Three distinctive periods of Palladianism can be discerned:
• The Palladianism of Palladio's own time, chiefly seen in the work of fellow
Italians who drew inspiration from his buildings
• Seventeenth-century Palladianism in Britain, when the work of Inigo Jones and
John Webb replaced the decorative style of Elizabethan and Jacobean buildings
• The Neo-Palladianism of eighteenth-century Britain, a style that dominated
British and North American architecture from the 1720s to the 1780s
Palladio set out his own ideas on villa design in I Quattro Libri dell'Architettura|.
These have influenced generations of architects around the world over the last five
centuries.
Key features include:
• A rural location, situated not far from a town or city
• A symmetrical plan, with room dimensions using simple ratios following
Renaissance ideals of harmony and proportion
• A relatively plain façade with horizontal emphasis, usually including a rusticated
basement, and a clearly defined principal storey
• A temple-like front to the building, using a portico as the main entrance point
• Classical ornament, for example the use of the Orders and particular window
types, including Venetian windows and thermal windows.
The plan of a Palladian villa follows closely Palladio’s ideas on harmony, symmetry and
proportion. Plans are almost always symmetrical and include rooms with specific
proportions such as 1:1, 2:3 or 4:5.
Palladio would typically produce quite a compact plan, often based around a central hall
flanked by staircases

• The Venetian window is arguably the most famous

trademark of Palladianism and was commonly used in
Palladian villas. It is composed of an archway or
window with three openings, the central one of which
is arched and wider than the others.
• It is known by many names, including the Serliana,
because it was first illustrated in Serlio’s
‘Architetettura’ of 1537, although it was probably
derived from Bramante. The window form was much
used by Palladio and his followers in seventeenth and
eighteenth-century England, therefore it also became
known as a Palladian or Venetian window.
• The thermal or Diocletian window (window in the form of a round -headed
archway with a narrower compartment on either side, the side compartments
usually being capped with entablatures on which the arch of the central
compartment rests or consisting of a semicircular window divided into three lights
by two vertical posts or mullions ) is a very distinctive type.
• The name derives from its appearance in the ancient baths, or thermae, of
Diocletian in Rome. Its use was revived by Palladio in the 16th century after his
discovery of the window in the Roman emperor’s baths, as shown in his
reconstruction sketch.
• Palladio went on to use the
window form in many of h is
buildings, including the Villa
Pisani in Bagnolo di Lonigo,
although unfortunately the
openings of this window are
now blocked.
• The first known use of a
thermal window in English
architecture was the re-
fronting of Lord Burlington's
house at Chiswick, a large
Elizabethan mansion. Later,
this featured more
prominently on the main
front to the adjoining villa,
now known as Chiswick House.
• After Burlington’s use at Chiswick, the thermal window became a feature almost
as common as the Venetian window in Neo-Palladian architecture.

• Neo-Palladianism is the term used to describe the style of architecture developed

in Britain in the early eighteenth century, led by Lord Burlington and his circle of
architects. On the whole, it drew on Palladio's villas and palaces, rather than his
church architecture.

• Neo-Palladianism emphasized certain building types and stylistic features. Villas

and palace-terraces were busily erected across Britain, with columns, pediments
and Palladian windows deployed repeatedly on their façades. This was quite
different to focusing on the rational understanding of a building advocated by
Palladio.

• While at times this focus on building features gave rise to a repetitive and
predictable approach, the achievements of Neo-Palladianism cannot be
understated. It gave rise to the quintessential (typical) eighteenth-century British
country house, plus the ordered streetscapes that form the heart of numerous
British cities, punctuated by grandiose civic buildings.
 Cheswick House
• Cheswick House is the
first and one of the finest
examples of neo-
Palladian design in
England.
• In 1726 Richard Boyle,
3rd Earl of Burlington,
built an addition to his
modest country house on
the river Thames at
Chiswick.
• The third Earl of
Burlington, who was
inspired on his grand tour by the architecture of
ancient Rome and 16th century Italy, Cheswick
House is a stunning homage to the work of
Renaissance architect Palladio.
• It was built as a pleasure palace, adjoining an older
house.
• Completed by 1729, the villa, which echoes classical
temple design, was never conceived as a private
residence. It is instead, a bold architectural experiment
by Burlington, a grand pavilion where he could
display his art and book collection and entertain
small groups of friends.
• Chiswick Villa is built of brick and its façade
fronted with Portland stone with a small amount of
stucco. The walls of the Villa, interrupted only by the
porticos and Venetian windows
• During his travels Burlington met the architect
William Kent and invited him to collaborate on the
design of the villa. No expense or creativity was
spared on the interior and Kent designed the
luxurious and colourful velvet rooms with red,
green and blue velvet walls, that interconnect with a magnificent domed
central saloon.
• The source for this feature was Andrea Palladio's centrally planned Villas, such as
the Villa Capra and Villa Foscari.
• In the design of the rooms Lord Burlington used different geometric shapes, some
with coved ceilings. Such a variety of differing spatial forms, many derived from
Palladio's reconstructions of ancient Roman buildings
• The Upper Tribune is an octagonal room surmounted with a central dome. The
dome has octagonal coffering of a type derived from the Basilica of Maxentius.
• The 'Thermal' or 'Diocletian' windows can be seen below the dome
 Mereworth castle, Kent
• It was built in the 1720s as an almost exact copy of Palladio's Villa Rotunda.
• It was designed in 1723 by Colen Campbell who had been commissioned by
John Fane, 7th Earl of Westmorland
• Campbell was a Scottish lawyer and arguably the first proponent of Neo -
Palladianism in Britain
• The house is situated in a landscaped park and valley with a number of
surrounding pavilions and lodges
Built as an occasional summer residence
The house’s plan is a square, with an identical portico on each side, and capped
by a high dome.

The circular domed Saloon is 35 feet in diameter and soars 80 feet to its top. The
ceilings at Mereworth appear to be the earliest 18th century "architecturally
compartmented design," derived from Palladio, still surviving. This type of ceiling
was originally introduced into England by Inigo Jones.
One of the most clever designs at Mereworth is the funneling of the chimney flues
through the lantern, thereby making them virtually invisible.
The Pavilions are probably a later design of Campbell's, and house the Stables,
offices, and the Brewhouse.
In a room behind the East Pavilion is the Shell Room
Mereworth's interiors are noted for plasterwork by Francesco Bagutti and
fresco painting by Francesco Sleter.
Mereworth is one of 5 Palladian houses built in Britain based on Palladio's
famous 16th century Villa Rotunda outside Vicenza (the others being Nuthall
Temple, Nottinghamshire [demolished]; Henbury Hall, Cheshire; Chiswick
House, Greater London; and Foots Cray Place, Kent [demolished]).
The House is today a private residence and not open to the public.