Holland Park Living
Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington (1694—1753)
Lord Burlington was an architect in his own right, but his main architectural importance lies in his influential patronage of Palladianism in the early Georgian period.
In 1715 Colen Campbell published the first volume of his Vitruvius Britannicus and Giacomo Leoni published the first English edition of Palladio’s Four Books of Architecture. This coincided with Burlington’s return from a tour of Italy where he must have seen the influence of Palladian ideas in practice.
Burlington was planning the construction of Burlington House and he appointed Campbell as architect. He left him to work on the project while he himself returned to Italy to study Palladio’s work for the next four years. While he was there he took William Kent, an illiterate art student, under his wing.
In 1719 he returned to England. Burlington dominated the architectural scene in England until his death in 1753 and it was his influence which ensured the triumph of Palladianism. He paid for the production of Kent’s Designs of Inigo Jones (1727) and in 1730 published Palladio’s drawings of Roman thermae.
His enthusiasm for Palladio, was essentially an enthusiasm for the architecture of the ancient Greeks and Romans. He was opposed to any modern interpretation or non-classical features. (To this extent, he was no a Palladian, since Palladio himself incorporated non-classical features in his work).
His own surviving architectural works include an ornamental villa at Chiswick, the Dormitory at Westminster School in London, Northwick Park in Worcestershire, and the Assembly Rooms in York (which is a copy of one of Palladio’s designs). He may also have contributed to Kent’s most famous building, Holkham Hall in Norfolk.
