[Born in London, 1572. Died 1651. Aged 79.]
Inigo Jones served his apprenticeship to a joiner: but his talent for
landscape-drawing obtained for him the favour of the Earl of Pembroke,
in whose company he visited France, Flanders, Germany, and Italy. At
Venice he was inspired with a taste for architecture, and following the
art with ardour and success obtained the office of first architect to
the King of Denmark. The king took Jones to England in 1606, and
introduced him to James I. His employment at the English Court as scenic
decorator is well known. The attachment of Inigo Jones, who was a Roman
Catholic, to the cause of Charles I., caused him great loss and
suffering during the civil wars, and he died, shortly after the
sacrifice of his master, worn out with grief and trouble. The style of
architecture introduced into England by this famous master, was founded
on the Venetian school, and more particularly on that branch of it
exercised by Andrea Palladio. It is distinguished by excellent
proportions, and by a masculine and noble character, which, whilst it
does not condescend to borrow too much from ornament, yet makes just use
of its charm. The Banquetting House at Whitehall, the only completed
portion of the magnificent palace designed by Jones, is his
_chef-d’œuvre_, and bears comparison with any work of the Italian style
in Europe. He practised the best and purest style of Italian
architecture ever known in England.