Architect Drawings : A Selection of Sketches by World Famous Architects Through History

Jones, Inigo (1573–1652)
Studies of voussoired windows, after Serlio, 1618, RIBA, Jones and Webb, 76, 77, and 78, #76:
16.7 16.5cm; #77: 8.2 19.8cm; #78: 28 19.1cm, Graphite, pen and brown ink with
brown wash over scorelines
Credited with bringing Renaissance art and architecture to Britain, Inigo Jones’ career involved painting,
theatrical design, and architecture. Being the first English classical architect, he followed in the
tradition of Palladio, Serlio and Scamozzi (Summerson, 1966). Inigo Jones was born the son of a clothmaker
in 1573. After being apprenticed to a joiner, he began his career in the profession of ‘picturemaker.’
In the year 1605, he created his first theatrical designs for scenery and costumes with the
playwright Ben Jonson. The production was The Masque of Blackness, the first of some 25 masques for
the Stuart Court, and it began a long association of patronage with the British monarchy (Harris,
Orgel and Strong, 1973; Summerson, 1966). The year 1508 exhibited his first architectural drawings
and his second trip to Italy, which solidified his classical education. His first important work, presented
in his translation of Venetian classicism for England, was the Queen’s House in Greenwich. In his position
as King’s surveyor starting in 1615, he also designed projects such as Whitehall Palace Banqueting
Hall, Somerset House, and St. Paul’s Cathedral, Covenant Garden.
Inspecting Jones’ architectural drawings throughout his practice, there are noticeable changes in
his drawing style. The drawings completed soon after his return from the second trip to Italy most
closely resemble drawings by Palladio, such as the use of underscoring enhanced with graphite.
His annotated copy of I Quattro Libri Dell Architettura reveals extensive notes and some diagrams substantiating
Jones’ careful study of the text (Allsopp, 1970; Harris and Higgott, 1989).
This series of sketches of voussoired windows reveals how strongly Italian classical architecture and
the treatises of Renaissance masters influenced Inigo Jones. On this page (Figure 1.10) are five windows
studied in graphite, scored lines, ink and wash. The windows, although titled voussoired, do not consist
of arches or vaults. To the left, a running script of cryptic commentary accompanies the window alternatives.
The inscriptions contain references to Serlio in the design and analysis of the windows with
such thoughts as ‘ … the midel most is / bigger then thos / of the sydes by 1/4 / Serlio of gaates fo. 5. /
and fo. 14; and: noat that in Serlio / ye Spaces ar more large … ’ (Harris and Higgott, 1989, p. 96). Here
Jones is directly comparing the dimensions of his design to that of windows used as examples by Serlio
in his treatise. He is not copying the elements verbatim, but instead transforms the proportions to fit his
own use. Experts on Jones, Harris and Higgot seem to concur that this sketch is not necessarily theoretical
by suggesting that certain details point to a specific building project (1989).
Jones was employing a technique, used similarly by Palladio, where he scored guidelines that
revealed concentrations of the wash. These score lines show especially in the openings of the windows,
where he used them to find symmetry and to construct the geometry of the angled stone
pieces. Jones used a straight edge for the guidelines but chose to work freehand for the analysis, possibly
because it was a more efficient media to quickly study the proportions he was exploring.
Inigo Jones clearly referenced Palladio, Serlio, and Renaissance classicism as a model for his architecture,
but he was able to creatively transform their principles and apply them to a particular building
project. He was conscious of this fact as evidenced by his notes; he analyzed his divergence from
an ideal, evoking advice from his forerunners for a solution that was contemporary to his practice.
This page was not merely a travel observation, but a sketch that allows manipulative analysis of
precedent.
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