Clarke, George

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Clarke, George (1661–1736). Educated at Oxford, he is mostly remembered as a virtuoso, often consulted by those involved in design and building after the death of Dean Aldrich. He was involved in the genesis of the Clarendon Building, Oxford, from 1710, and was responsible for revisions to Aldrich's proposals for the south side of Peckwater Quadrangle at Christ Church from 1716: indeed, Christ Church Library, based on Michelangelo's Capitoline Palace, was largely Clarke's design (1717–38). He had a significant role (with Hawksmoor) in the planning of Queen's College (1710–21), and appears to have provided the designs for the new buildings at Magdalen College, begun by the master-mason Townesend in 1733. He probably designed and built the Warden's House at All Souls, and proposed a quadrangle that was eventually realized to Hawksmoor's designs (1715–40). Clarke was of great importance as the patron and collaborator of Hawksmoor, and as a collector of architectural drawings: with Aldrich, he can be regarded as an early protagonist of the English Palladian Revival.

Bibliography

Colvin (1995)

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