Apr 8, 2024
When I was researching Tudor and early-Stuart gatehouses in the central southwest of England, one of the common features that occurred was the shell-headed niche. The niche whether empty or filled by a statue becomes a significant architectural device in England from...
Aug 23, 2023
The 18th-century Grand Tour must have been exciting time for young patricians seeking to discover the ancient world first hand in Rome. If they could put aside the temptations of pleasurable diversions, then serious learning and procuring a collection were attainable....
Apr 22, 2022
It is useful, I find, when examining civic architecture and the architecture of the English country house to remember the classical arch, of which there are key examples in Rome. The triumphal arch and the triumphal column were testament to the dominance of...
Mar 19, 2022
On a recent visit to Rome, I found myself wondering what it must have been like for the young patrician of the 18th C Grand Tour. Travelling would not have been comfortable and may well have been dangerous at times. But the arrival in Rome would have fortified the...
May 23, 2021
‘The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.’ Aristotle (384-322 BC) Anyone with an interest in architectural history cannot get away from the importance of classical temples, classical architecture and...
Apr 6, 2020
Baroque architecture developed in Italy in the early-17th C and appeared in England during the 1660s. The Baroque garland was a motif that appeared as part of a scheme in English plasterwork. This post looks at three examples of plasterwork garlands in Baroque...
