Classical Architecture in Britain: The Heroic Age

WORSLEY, Giles

ISBN 10: 0300058969 / ISBN 13: 9780300058963

Published by Published for the Paul Mellon Centre For Studies in British Art by Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 1995

About this Item

xiii, 347 p. 29 cm. 350 illustrations, over 60 in colour. Blue cloth hardcover in mylar-covered pictorial dustjacket. Dampstains to text block edge and first and last pages. Numerous signatures on half-title, marking title page. Another signature at bottom of title. Highlights the architectural genius of Inigo Jones, Nicholas Hawksmoor, John Vanbrugh, and others. Seller Inventory # 119468

Bibliographic Details

Title: Classical Architecture in Britain: The ...

Publisher: Published for the Paul Mellon Centre For Studies in British Art by Yale University Press, New Haven and London

Publication Date: 1995

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Good +

Dust Jacket Condition: Fine

About this title

Synopsis:

Giles Worsley notes that architectural styles do not always supersede one another but can co-exist, although one style may be dominant. Focusing on the Palladian classical tradition, introduced by Inigo Jones in the 1610s, he shows that this tradition did not die out with Jones's death and revive only during the first half of the eighteenth century, as is commonly assumed, but remained viable until the end of the eighteenth century, rivalling the baroque and rococo styles. Worsley argues that neo-classicism, generally seen as a generic description of architecture in the late eighteenth century, was actually prevalent in British architecture in varying degrees of strength as early as 1615. He examines the architecture of Scotland, Ireland and North America in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and shows how styles were influenced by English Palladianism. He also places Palladianism in a European context, pointing out that it was not an isolated phenomenon but was an important feature of Italian, French, Dutch and German architecture during this time. The book thus not only sheds fresh light on British architecture but also provides a new outlook on European and American architecture as a whole.