Vanbrugh, Sir John

Vanbrugh, Sir John (1664–1726). English architect of Flemish descent, author of risqué plays (including The Provok'd Wife (1697) sketched while languishing in French gaols), herald, soldier, and wit. Architecture became his prime interest around 1699 when he made designs for Castle Howard, Yorks., for Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Carlisle (1674–1738—to whom he was distantly related), supplanting Talman, who had prepared an earlier scheme. Castle Howard (1699–1726) was a virtuoso performance in the Baroque style, more Continental than English, all the more extraordinary as the work of an inexperienced amateur. The powerful, virile, and confident designs were realized with the assistance of Hawksmoor, who was appointed Draughtsman and Clerk of Works in 1700. Partly as a result of this success (and through his connections), Vanbrugh superseded Talman as Comptroller of the Works in 1702, and thus became Wren's colleague on the Board of Works. Quickly perceived as an architect of genius (though apparently without any formal training or experience), the agreeable, clubbable Vanbrugh lost no time in getting himself appointed architect to members of the Whig Oligarchy, replacing the quarrelsome Talman whenever possible. For a decade, as Comptroller of Her Majesty's Works, he enjoyed not only power but perquisites as well, and made the most of his opportunities. The Tories removed him from his post in 1713, but when the Whigs returned to power and George Lewis, Elector of Hanover, became King George I (reigned 1714–27) in 1714 he was not only re-stored to the Comptrollership but knighted as well, and in 1715 was also appointed Surveyor of Gardens and Waters. He was a strong personality within the Office of Works, but failed to succeed Wren as Surveyor in 1718, the job going to Benson, and towards the end of his life his Baroque style was out of favour, being superseded by Burlington's Palladianism.

In 1704 Vanbrugh gained his most important commission to design Blenheim Palace, Oxfon., a great house intended as a symbol of the Nation's and the Queen's gratitude to John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough (1650–1722), for his victories over the French. There he was able to build on a vast scale, unhampered by penny-pinching, and with Blenheim English Baroque achieved its climax, though it was a Baroque that had no exact Continental equivalent despite the fact that its sources were French, Italian (the arcaded belvederes at the corner are reminiscent of Borromini's work), and English (notably the works of Talman and Wren). There was another aspect too, that of Vanbrugh's interest in medieval and Elizabethan architecture. Something of the dramatic skyline of prodigy houses can be seen at Blenheim and at other creations by one of England's greatest architects. Blenheim was completed by a cabinet-maker, James Moore, and by Hawksmoor.

Other houses by Vanbrugh were Kimbolton Castle, Hunts. (1707–10—with later additions by Galilei), King's Weston, near Bristol (c.1710–19); Eastbury Park, Dorset (begun 1718—demolished except for one wing); the Sublime Seaton Delaval, Northum. (1720–8), and the north front of Grimsthorpe Castle, Lins. (1722–6). He evoked something of the ‘Castle Air’ (as he termed it), medieval, and Elizabethan architecture without overt quotation. Seaton Delaval, with a plan combining Classical formalism and a reminiscence of medieval corner-towers, is one of Vanbrugh's most remarkable, powerful, memorable, and massive creations, with its insistent banding and rustication. Vanbrugh's sensitivity towards the past led him to attempt to retain the remains of Woodstock Manor in the grounds of Blenheim, for he recognized the importance of ruins in a landscape. Indeed, he contributed to the making of the gardens at Stowe, Bucks. (where he designed the Lake Pavilions, the Rotunda, the Temples of Bacchus and Sleep, the Cold Bath, and the Pyramid (c.1719–24—nearly all demolished or altered) ), and at Castle Howard, where he was responsible for the Obelisk (1714), Pyramid Gate (1719), and Belvedere Temple (1725–8), and must therefore be regarded as an important pioneering creator of Picturesque landscapes. Some of his architecture also had Picturesque qualities, notably his own house at Greenwich (Vanbrugh Castle, from 1718), with crenellated towers and bogus machicolations, the composition anticipating the Gothic Revival later in the century.

Bibliography

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