Jacobean architecture

Jacobean architecture

The Jacobean style is the second phase of Renaissance architecture in England, following the Elizabethan style. It is named after King James I of England, with whose reign it is associated.

Contents

Characteristics

The reign of James VI of Scotland (or James I of England) (1603–1625), a disciple of the new scholarship, saw the first decisive adoption of Renaissance motifs in a free form communicated to England through German and Flemish carvers rather than directly from Italy. Although the general lines of Elizabethan design remained, there was a more consistent and unified application of formal design, both in plan and elevation. Much use was made of columns and pilasters, round-arch arcades, and flat roofs with openwork parapets. These and other classical elements appeared in a free and fanciful vernacular rather than with any true classical purity. With them were mixed the prismatic rustications and ornamental detail of scrolls, straps, and lozenges also characteristic of Elizabethan design. The style influenced furniture design and other decorative arts.

History and examples

Bank Hall, Bretherton

Already during Queen Elizabeth I's reign reproductions of the classic orders had found their way into English architecture, based frequently upon John Shute's The First and Chief Grounds of Architecture, published in 1563, with two other editions in 1579 and 1584. In 1577, three years before the commencement of Wollaton Hall, a copybook of the orders was brought out in Antwerp by Hans Vredeman de Vries. Though nominally based on the description of the orders by Vitruvius, the author indulged freely not only in his rendering of them, but in suggestions of his own, showing how the orders might be employed in various buildings. Those suggestions were of a most decadent type, so that even the author deemed it advisable to publish a letter from a canon of the Church, stating that there was nothing in his architectural designs which was contrary to religion. It is to publications of this kind that Jacobean architecture owes the perversion of its forms and the introduction of strap work and pierced crestings, which appear for the first time at Wollaton (1580); at Bramshill, Hampshire (1607–1612), and in Holland House, Kensington (1624), it receives its fullest development.

Other Jacobean buildings of note are Hatfield House, Hertfordshire; Knole House, near Sevenoaks in Kent; Holland House by John Thorpe, Plas Teg near Pontblyddyn between Wrexham, Mold, Bank Hall in Bretherton, Castle Bromwich Hall near Solihul and Lilford Hall in Northamptonshire.

Although the term is generally employed of the style which prevailed in England during the first quarter of the 17th century, its peculiar decadent detail will be found nearly twenty years earlier at Wollaton Hall, Nottinghamshire, and in Oxford and Cambridge examples exist up to 1660, notwithstanding the introduction of the purer Italian style by Inigo Jones in 1619 at Whitehall.

In the Americas

Examples of original Jacobean architecture in the Americas include Drax Hall Great House in Barbados and Bacon's Castle in Surry County, Virginia.

See also

References

  • M. Whiffen, An Introduction to Elizabethan and Jacobean Architecture (1952).
  • J. Summerson, Architecture in Britain, 1530–1830 (rev. ed. 1963).
  • The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001.
  •  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainChisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Jacobean — indicates the period of English history that coincides with the reign of James I (1603 ndash;1625):*Jacobean era *Jacobean architecture *Jacobean literature *Jacobean English (the language used in the King James Version of the Bible)It is also… …   Wikipedia

  • Jacobean age — Period in the visual and literary arts during the reign of James I (Latin Jacobus) of England (r. 1603–25). Jacobean architecture combines motifs from the late Gothic period with Classical details and Tudor pointed arches and interior paneling.… …   Universalium

  • Jacobean — Ja*co be*an (?; 277), Jacobian Ja*co bi*an, a. [From L. Jacobus James. See 2d {Jack}.] Of or pertaining to James the First, of England, or of his reign or times; especially, pertaining to a style of architecture and decoration popular in the time …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Jacobean era — distinguish2|Jacobinism or JacobitismThe Jacobean era refers to a period in English and Scottish history that coincides with the reign of King James I (1603ndash 1625). The Jacobean era succeeds the Elizabethan era and precedes the Caroline era,… …   Wikipedia

  • Architecture of Birmingham — Although Birmingham in England has existed as a settlement for over 1,000 years, today s city is overwhelmingly a product of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, with little surviving from its early history. As it has expanded, it has acquired a… …   Wikipedia

  • architecture — I (New American Roget s College Thesaurus) Building design Nouns 1. architectural or building design, form; architectural or structural engineering; landscape architecture or gardening; architectonics. See building. 2. (architectural styles) a.… …   English dictionary for students

  • Architecture of Aylesbury — The architecture of Aylesbury, the county town of Buckinghamshire, reflects the ordinary architecture which can be found in many small towns in England where the buildings of the town were designed by local architects. This is characteristic of… …   Wikipedia

  • Jacobean — /jak euh bee euhn/, adj. 1. of or pertaining to James I of England or to his period. 2. noting or pertaining to the style of architecture and furnishings prevailing in England in the first half of the 17th century, continuing the Elizabethan… …   Universalium

  • Jacobean — /dʒækəˈbiən/ (say jakuh beeuhn) adjective 1. of or relating to the reign of James I of England or his times: Jacobean drama. 2. of or relating to the late English Gothic style of architecture and furnishings, showing Italian influence, which… …  

  • Architecture of Upper Canada College — Since its founding in 1829, Upper Canada College (UCC), in Toronto, Ontario, has occupied a number of sites and various structures on those sites. The school campus has always held a relatively prominent place within the city.1829 to 1891 had it… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”