Inigo Jones

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At first sight it could appear almost irrelevant toask what was the importance of VincenzoScamozzi (ill. 1) for Inigo Jones (ill. 2). For Pal-ladio was clearly Joness central inspiration, thearchitect with whom he identified even to thepoint of signing his name and that of Palladioagain and again (ill. 3) on a blank page in hiscopy of Palladios Quattro Libri1. Joness copy of

the 1601 edition of Palladios treatise, was themost densely annotated of his books, the reposi-tory of his observations on architecture over thedecades. This fact alone testifies to the centrali-ty of Palladios works and words for Jones as anarchitect. And even when Palladio slips up guilty of inaccuracy when he publishes the Mai-son Carre at Nmes2, or even of assuming thecredit for designing Palazzo Thiene, which

Jones agrees was not designed by him, but byGiulio Romano3 no word of condemnation is-sues from the English architects pen. It is not so

with purblind Scamozzi, ever in Joness viewlacking in artistic judgment, envious of Palladio,and ready to copy him and others without ac-knowledging his debt4.

But, as we shall see, we should not be too in-fluenced by Joness more quotable marginal sallies.Not only had Jones conversed with Scamozzi, buthad made notes and probably drawings related tohis buildings, and had read and annotated theIdeadella Architettura Universale so carefully that he

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Howard Burns Inigo Jones and Vincenzo Scamozzi

even corrects errors in the numbering of theplates, and printing errors in the page numbers inthe index (ill. 4)5. Furthermore Scamozzi is themost likely source for the greater part of the largeblock of Palladio drawings which Jones owned an acquisition of enormous importance not onlyfor Jones personally, but for the subsequent de-

velopment of British architecture. Jones also

owned numbers of drawings by Scamozzi himself,including a very early project for the villa Fer-ramosca (ill. 5)6, a project for the Rialto bridge7,and studies for illustrations of theIdea, includinga set of sketched designs for the layout of theplates relating to Scamozzis own buildings, nowpreserved at Chatsworth8. One book fromScamozzis library, a translation of Strabo, is pre-served among Joness books at Worcester Col-lege, Oxford9. At some stage Jones probably hadaccess to the contents (apparently lost) of the twochests (due forzieri) of Scamozzis drawings,listed in the inventory of Lord Arundels effectsdrawn up in Padua in 165510. We can conjecturethat it was Jones who negotiated this purchase

with Scamozzi, between 1613 and 1614, whenthe principal preoccupation of the aging archi-tect would have been the publication of his mas-sive treatise, and the funding of the foundationto support successive Vicentine architects readyto assume his name: projects which required asmuch money as possible11. A younger architect

1. Portrait of Vincenzo Scamozzi,on the title page of his book, LIdea della

Architettura Universale, Venezia 1615.

2. Anthony van Dyck, Portrait of InigoJones, detail (Chatsworth, Trustees of theChatsworth Settlement; after Palladioand Northern Europe. Books, Travellers,

Architects, texts by G. Beltramini et al.,Milano 1999, p. 106).


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would not have parted with his own drawings (or

those of Palladio) in that they constituted an in-valuable resource in the exercise of his profes-sion.

It is interesting to note that Jones implies there seems to be little ambiguity in what he

writes that he had seen Scamozzis reconstruc-tion of the villa of the ancients before it was pub-lished in theIdea in 1615, in other words that hehad seen it in Vicenza between 1613 e 1614. Thepassage (written in the margin of Joness copy ofthe Quattro Libri, II, p. 69) reads: Scamozo ut-terly dislikes this desine of Paladio and hathmaad on wch must comm fowrth in his book asfar in my opignion from Vittruuious as this,that is to say Palladios reconstruction of the Ro-

man villa, as described by Vitruvius12. We shouldalso observe the situation documented by thenote: Jones is discussing a plate in PalladiosQuattro Libriwith Scamozzi, quite possibly in hishouse, where Scamozzis ownstill unpublishedre-construction would have been accessible. In an-other marginal note he records discussing vaults

with Scamozzi: Friday the first of August 1614I spoake wth Scamozo in this matter and he hathresolved me in this in the manner of voltes13.

And Scamozzi (together with Palma il Giovane)was the source for the information that the de-sign for Palazzo Thiene was originally providedby Giulio Romano14.

Jones owned a large number of Palladiosdrawings, had seen many of his works, and beenable to compare them with the plates in theQuattro Libri, which has his constant companion.But he had never known Palladio personally.Scamozzi, however, was perhaps the only trulygreat Italian architect with whom he was able toconverse with at length and know intimately.

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Joness close acquaintance with Scamozzi him-

self, his works, drawings, treatise and at least oneof the books he had owned, makes the Vicentinearchitect a unique presence in Joness self-educa-tion and reflections. The question of the extentand character of the influence of the Vicentinearchitect on the innovative Englishman, the truefounder of a new architecture in the Kingdom, isin fact central to our understanding of Jones.

Jones and PalladioBefore examining Jones knowledge of Scamozzi,and his reactions to his work and ideas, it is per-haps useful to return to Joness debt to Palladio.

After his return to England in 1614, as is wellknown, Jones started modelling his architecture

and his drawing style on that of Palladio. His1616 plan project for the Queens House resem-bles Palladios work not only in the introductionof spiral stairs revolving round an open centre,the hall with a cross vault resting on fourcolumns but in the draughting style and graph-ic conventions (for instance the indication of thecross vault and of window openings)15. His ele-

vation of the same date for the Queens House issimilarly close to Palladios designs for palacefacades16. The same dependence on Palladiosgraphic modes can be seen in his plan for a newStar Chamber of 161717, and his projects for theplan and elevation of the Banqueting House18.His later facade project for the building19, recallspalace facade designs of Palladio, while with itscentral pediment, which brackets and emphasis-es the central section, it recalls Palladios projectfor rebuilding the Doges palace after the disas-trous fire of 157720. Twenty years later Jonessucceeded in realizing what Palladio was neverable to have built, a great portico in front of St

3. Inigo Jones, sketches and his own nameand that of Palladio, on a blank page in hiscopy of Andrea Palladio, I quattro libridellarchitettura, Venezia 1601 (Oxford,Worcester College; by Courtesy of theProvost and Fellows of Worcester College).

4. Vincenzo Scamozzi, LIdea dellaArchitettura Universale, Venezia 1615:Joness corrections on printing errors in thepage numbers in the index to the PartePrima (Oxford, Worcester College;by Courtesy of the Provost and Fellowsof Worcester College).


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Rather than simply copying, Jones sets out toextend and complete the work of Palladio. TheBanqueting House is a free combination of twocompositions which Palladio was never able toconstruct: his design for the facade of the DucalPalace in Venice23, and his reconstruction of theEgyptian Hall24. His choir screen for Winchestercathedral, with its echoes of the lower part ofPalladios monument to Doge Alvise Mocenigoin Santi Giovanni e Paolo, would have seemedappropriate in any Venetian church, had it notbeen that traditional choirs (and therefore theirscreens), which were preserved in England, werein Italy now fast going out of fashion 25. St PaulsCovent Garden offers a solution for a relativelysmall and inexpensive church on a public square,

with residential and market functions, of a sortwhich Palladio might have built: it is based onhis Tuscan order, his reconstruction of the Etr-uscan temple in the Barbaros Vitruvius, and hisformula for villa (and barn) porticoes hence thecharacterisation attributed to Jones (it is notknown whether the anecdote is true or apoc-

ryphal) of the church as the handsomest barn inEngland26. And as we have seen the vast porticowhich Jones built in front of St Pauls Cathedralrecalls the porticoes which Palladio was neverable to build on the facades of San Giorgio Mag-giore in Venice, and San Petronio in Bologna.

Smaller elements in Joness buildings tendnot to correspond exactly to models available inthe treatise and works of Palladio. The Ioniccapitals of the Banqueting House are close toScamozzis published capital for the order, withthe volutes canted out diagonally, but Palladioalso employed this variant of the capital, as in the

vestibule of Palazzo Barbaran in Vicenza. Theentablature, with a pulvinated frieze, has points

in common both with Palladio and Scamozzi(Idea, II, 7); the Composite capitals are higherthan any Palladio or Scamozzi used, possibly tocompensate for foreshortening in this tall build-ing. At St Pauls, like Michelangelo at the Palaz-zo Farnese, Jones had full scale wooden modelsof details constructed, so as to assess their visualeffect, and if necessary, adjust them27. Nor can

we match the window frames exactly with any inPalladios repertoire. All of which points to thefact that not only did Jones not photocopy anyparticular building of Palladio in his own works,but freely combines elements from numbers ofsources, invents and varies spontaneously, of-ten using ideas which are not present in Palla-dios buildings or designs. Jones in fact in his ar-chitectural compositions demonstrates a posi-tion exactly similar to that of his contemporaryand collaborator in the realization of court

Masques, the great Ben Jonson. Jonson writes onimitation in literature: One, though he be ex-cellent, and the chief, is not to be imitated alone.

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Pauls Cathedral, resembling the Pantheon-like

portico which Palladio had proposed for SanPetronio in a design which Jones owned, now atWorcester College21.

The executed facade of the BanquetingHouse dispenses with the central pediment, butthrough the presence of four half columns ineach order echoes both the Doges palace de-sign and two storey villas, like the Villa Cornaroat Piombino Dese and Villa Pisani at Montag-nana. There remains a debt too to buildings

with superimposed orders, like Palazzo Chieri-cati or Palazzo Barbaran. At the BanquetingHouse, however, the bases do not rest on thestreet, as they do at Palazzo Barbaran. Insteadthey are raised on a rusticated podium, like that

of a temple, or Palladios Redentore, or severalof his villa designs.

Though quotations or rather paraphrases,adapted to new contexts of Palladio are fre-quent in Joness works, we can perhaps best char-acterise his relation to the great architect by say-ing that Joness sought not to copy him, or evenimitate him in a narrow sense, but rather to designlike him, in terms of attention to typologies, ra-tional principles, the works of the ancients, theneed to modify details of the orders in relation tothe visual context in which they appeared, or thefunction or budget of the building, or simply toprovide some element of surprise or novelty. Bythe time Jones had returned from his Italian jour-ney of 1613-14, he had in fact acquired a pro-found understanding of Palladios ideas and pro-cedures, which he constantly reinforced by thestudy not only of the Quattro Libri, but (as Gor-don Higgott has shown) of Barbaros Vitruvius22,and the works of other architectural writers, in-cluding above all Scamozzi.

5. Vincenzo Scamozzi, project for the VillaFerramosca, Barbano, detail (London,RIBA,British Architectural Library, DrawingsCollection; afterVincenzo Scamozzi1548-1616, eds. F. Barbieriand G. Beltramini, Venezia 2003).


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For never no imitator, ever grew up to his au-thor; []28. For Jones, though Palladio was un-doubtedly excellent, and the chief, he was nev-ertheless not the only architect to be observedand followed. Jones also valued his own position,his own achievement. He signs Palladios

name; but he also signs his own.

Jones and Scamozzis architectureOnce Joness freedom as a designer, his commit-ment to varying with reason, as he puts it,paraphrasing an important idea of Daniele Bar-baro, reflected also in Palladios book29, is recog-nized, it surprises us less that Jones not onlyquotes frequently and freely from Scamozzi, butincorporates elements from Scamozzis buildingsinto his own basic vocabulary.

He starts to do so soon after his return fromItaly. His unexecuted design for a villa (ill. 6), tobe dated to about 1617, with a central circularroom, and deep niches bitten into its corners, isa clear quotation from Scamozzis Rocca Pisana(ill. 7)30.

It is not possible to date Joness design for ascene with Cupids Pallas (ill. 8) exactly, butthe building which occupies the central positionis a conflation of elements drawn from the fa-cade and the cortile of Scamozzis Palazzo Trissi-

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no (ill. 9) on the Corso in Vicenza31. The eleva-tion of one side of the cortile however has cometo dominate in the final state of the drawing,

which shows that Jones had a drawing his ownor Scamozzis of this feature as it is not illus-trated in theIdea. The order is Ionic: possibly acorrection on Joness part of what he singles outas an error in the building: a great Pallas begonby Scamozio but ye order wthin agreith not wththat without wch is an Ionicke Portico but with-in is Dorricke and lower32.

Jones did not only observe Scamozzis worksclosely, but quoted from them.

In the Cupids Pallasdesign, the upper part of

the elevation shows a central arched windowflanked by rectangular openings. This scheme,

which appears in the Palazzo Trissino cortile, isused several times by Jones. It can be seen in adesign for the Princes Lodging at Newmarket33

(ill. 10). In a latterly expanded version it is em-ployed on the North facade of the QueensHouse at Greenwich. And it appears yet againon the facade of the Queens Chapel. In everycase the scheme is rather closer to Scamozzi thanit is to analogous motifs in Palladios work likethe arched windows on the facade and at thesides of the Villa Barbaro at Maser, which Palla-dio would also have had in mind when he adopt-ed this solution. We can also note that the use of

wash, and the lively free hand execution of thetwo Newmarket Palace drawings34 and even ofthe two elevation drawings for the BanquetingHouse facade35 (ill. 11). These drawings have thespontaneity and informality of Scamozzissketches for plates showing his own buildings inthe Idea, which Jones owned, while the use of

6. Inigo Jones, unexecuted design for a villa(the Queens House at Greenwich?)(London,RIBA, British Architectural Library,Drawings Collection; after J. Harris,G. Higgott, Inigo Jones. Completearchitectural drawings, New York-London1989, cat. 516).

7. Lonigo (Vicenza), Rocca Pisana(architect Vincenzo Scamozzi), view intothe circular sala.


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copying Palladio without acknowledging hisdebt: From hence Scamotzio took the propor-tions of cornicements in roofs and so he did inmost of the things he did mesureing thes thingesPalla writ not of he maad rules for them (ibid.,II, p. 28). Then he taxes Scamozzi with beingpurblind, probably in a metaphorical senserather than indicating that he had defectivesight. Noat the ancientes, Jones notes, whena cornish stood farr from the eye maad the mem-bers great and som times Put modiglions in thefreese wch mad Arrchitrave freese and Cornishsheau affar of all on cornish. this SecratScamozio being purblind under stoode nott. Se

ye Colloses ye upper order. Ser[lio]: fo. 65. Li.337. Jones clearly is thinking of the upper tra-beation of the Colosseum, whose unconvention-al but effective design had already been observedand imitated by Leon Battista Alberti38.

Joness comments on Scamozzi are not how-ever all negative, as when, for instance (QL, I, p.42) he writes that Scamozio is ye best in thematter of the construction of the Corinthiancapital, outdoing both Palladio and Vignola.

The notes in Joness copy of ScamozzisIdeaIf we turn from Joness copy of the Quattro Libri,to his copy of theIdea of Scamozzi, where he has

written the date of acquisition March 251617 on the title page (ill. 13), we find a sim-ilar variety of notes, though, disappointingly, nofurther direct references to Scamozzis built

works, or to Joness quotations from them.Scamozzi began his annotation of the Idea

years after he started exploring and pondering thetext of the Quattro Libri. By 1617 he was an expe-

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wash resembles, for instance, that of Scamozzisdesign for linking the Procuratie Nuove toSansovinos Libreria (ill. 12)36.

In his notes in his copy of the Quattro LibriJones directly mentions another motif which hehas derived from Scamozzi, namely the insertionof the parapet cornice of the balustrade into thecolumns on the facade of the Queens House to-

wards the park. The passage (QL, IV, p. 105)reads: [] the raill of the parrapett or leaningmust bee lett in to the boddy of the collome as Idid at Gree(n)wich in ye portico tourdes theparke, and as I have seene at Ponte della Cagnianear Padoa in a villa of Clarimo Molin. A com-

parison of the two balustrades illustrates Jonessobservation. In a further note (QL, IV, p. 24)

Jones refers again to the portico of the VillaMolin: a work which had clearly impressed him,and of which he must have made at least sketch-es, which are now lost.

Scamozzi in Joness notes in his copyof the Quattro LibriIf we pass from the quotations from Scamozzi in

Joness drawings and built works to mentions ofScamozzi in his marginal notes in the Quattro

Libriwe find Scamozzi referred to frequently, ina variety of contexts. Sometimes he is simply thesource of information or comment, as when heinforms Jones that Giulio Romano was the de-signer of Palazzo Thiene, or when he expresseshis disapproval of Palladios reconstruction ofthe ancient villa. Jones feels Scamozzi betrayshostility towards Palladio: all of which sheaues

ye ignorance and malise of Scamotzio againstPaladio (QL, I, p. 24). Scamozzi is criticized for

8. Inigo Jones, for a scene with CupidsPallas, detail, 1619 or after (Chatsworth,the Trustees of the Chatsworth Settlement,Devonshire Collections, Orgel & Strong113; afterVincenzo Scamozzi1548-1616, cit.).

9. Vicenza, Palazzo Trissino Baston, viewof the cortile.


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rienced, learned reader, with a full knowledge ofItalian and Italian architectural vocabulary, and aclose acquaintance with other texts, starting withthe Quattro Libri, which he cites so as to illumi-nate or criticize Scamozzi39. His character of spe-cialist a specialist in architectural theory andabove all in architectural design shows in the

way in which his notes are concentrated on cer-tain chapters and areas of the massive book: thepassages relating to design and drawing, toScamozzis own buildings, where he often addsrubrics to the plans, and the many pages dealing

with the orders, where his marginal notes oftenassume the character of a detailed commentary.

His annotations cannot be said to be hostileto Scamozzi, who is sometimes praised for par-ticular solutions of detail, and who is often im-

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plicitly approved for more general ideas regard-

ing architecture or the architect.Jones gives little attention as an annotator tothe lengthy sections on building materials ei-ther too obvious for him, or too related to theItalian context. Similarly he does not enter intodiscussion with Scamozzi for that is what es-sentially he is doing in his marginalia on anti-quarian or historical matters40.

The notes impress by their serious, profes-sional and completely private character. Theyare made exclusively for himself, as aids in thedevelopment of his critical understanding of thesubject matter and as an aid in designing. He istherefore concerned both with general princi-ples and with defining preferred proportions or

motifs, as when he enters into a detailed discus-sion of the orders and their parts. Jones is not

writing for anyone but himself: he is not seekingto impress, convince, dissimulate, or conceal. Heis not hostile to Scamozzi, though, havingknown him personally, he permits himself a fewapparently amused asides. Thus he writes (Idea,I, 197) against a plate of fortifications: thes cav-aliri ar taken from carlo totti li.1. fo. 19 &Scamozi make it his owne invention as his manoris [])41. He points out the derivation of a villaplan from Palladios Villa Godi at Lonedo, thusagain painting Scamozzi as a plagiarist42. And henotes with evident relish the recurrence ofpassages hostile to Genoa and the Genovesi43.

Joness attention to general ideason architecture and architects in the Idea

Jones is particularly attentive to general con-cepts presented in theIdea, which in some casesare not to be found in Vitruvius or Palladio, andoften confirmed Jones own views. Unlike the

10. Inigo Jones, project for the PrincesLodging at Newmarket (after Harris,Higgott, Inigo Jones, cit., cat. 31, p. 103).

11. Inigo Jones, project for the facade ofthe Banqueting House, detail (London, RIBA,British Architectural Library, DrawingsCollection; after Harris, Higgott, Inigo

Jones, cit., cat. 33, p. 110).

12. Vincenzo Scamozzi, project for linkingthe Procuratie Nuove with Sansovinos

Library (Firenze, Galleria degli Uffizi,

Gabinetto Disegni e Stampe, 194 A;afterVincenzo Scamozzi 1548-1616, cit.).


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dense cross-referenced annotations in the chap-

ters on the orders, Inigo merely translates, para-phrases, labels or underlines these passages of amore general nature. For the most part he sin-gles out statements which relate to the factors

which most condition a design (climate, thecharacter of the site, the social position of thepatron), the standing of the architect, the bestapproach in the elaboration of inventions, thecentral importance of the example of the an-cients, and the techniques of architectural draw-ing. These marginal notes constitute a sort ofminiature but independent equivalent to thegeneral account of architecture given by SirHenry Wotton in his Elements of Architecture(1624)44. Jones was well acquainted with Wotton,

a former ambassador in Venice and owner of agroup of drawings by Palladio, as emerges fromnotes in Joness copy of Palladio45.

We can compile a brief anthology of suchnotes, grouping them by subject:

Architectural theoryin this part architecture houlds much of Philosofi

morrall &naturall (I, 9).

ClimateJones writes in the margin of Idea (I, 223) Difer-ence of build[in]gs according to ye Contry (ill.

14), against the passage which begins perch al-

tro si pu fare nella nostra Italia [underlined by

Jones]; diverso nella Spagna, e differente nella

Francia, e nella Germania, & altrove. This idea

was also developed by Sir Henry Wotton in his

book of 1624, where he pithily states that A good

Parler in gypt would make perchance a goodCeller in England46.

SitesIrregular seate reduced to regular forme (I, 121).

Dispraise of sitti foro [i.e. fuori] di squadro (I, 224).

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Inventions and designExperience serves art more tha[n] invention (I,

46-48).

Easy and simple inventions the best and imitate

nature in the body of a man (I, 46).

On must mak morr than one invention (I, 46, 22).

The passage pi duna inventione is underlined.

How designs ought to be made unaffected (I,

46-48).

What is commendable in invention is the beauti-ful union of the parts, of site and form (I, 46-48).

Croked lines in inventions blamed (I, 46).

Answering of doures and windowes commended

(I, 46-48).

What modulo is (I,47).

Architectural drawingcomendation of Designe (I, 47).

Stillo of ivorio [to]draw ded lines (I, 48). Lineemorte is the term used by Scamozzi for lines in-cised in the paper with a stylus, a system widely

used by architects for preliminary drawings.

Painted designes blamed (I, 48).

washing of ye Designes(I, 48).

noting on a paper ye length and broadnes (I, 48).Scamozzis method of recording the main dimen-

sions of a project drawing on strips of paper which

he kept for future reference.

Social aspects of architecturea ma[n] judged by his howse (I, 225; ill. 15).

The ArchitectPer mantenere il grado e reputatione dellar-

chitetto [] (I, 28). Jones indicates this para-

graph with a pointing finger.What the contrahr is to the Architect (I, 29).

Architecture and the AncientsAll that we have in building of good and faire is

bye traditio[n] fro[m] the Ancients (I, 225; ill. 16).

ConclusionsJones knew Scamozzi well his personality, opin-ions, ideas, writings, buildings and drawings. Hehad discussed architectural matters with him,looked at unpublished drawings with him, andheard his opinions of Palladio. No other Englishdesigner had ever acquired such a completeknowledge of the work and ideas of a leadingItalian architect. From Scamozzi Jones probablyacquired his habit of densely annotating hisbooks, and of placing cross-references in themargin to other books where the same topic isdiscussed as Vincenzo Scamozzi does through-out his printed treatise. Even Jones practice ofsigning his name on his books and on his draw-ings probably derives from the Vicentine: no sur-

viving drawing by Palladio bears his signature.At the same time it is clear from the dense

and constantly revisited notes on his copy ofthe Quattro Libri that Jones primary point ofreference for design principles and formulae,for the orders, for ancient and modern building

13. Inigo Jones, the date of acquisition,March 25 1617, written on the title pageof Scamozzi, LIdea, cit. (Oxford,Worcester College; by Courtesy of theProvost and Fellow of Worcester College).


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types, for knowledge of the antique remainedPalladio. But by using motifs and ideas takenfrom Scamozzi (and others) Jones preserved his

vitality and personality as a designer, whilemaintaining the centrality of his dialogue andidentification with Palladio. Jones signs his ownname and Palladios repeatedly on the samepage, but does not imitate a signature which heknew well, that of the other great Vicentine ar-chitect. It is striking, however, how often

Joness makes use of motifs and compositionalschemes derived from Scamozzi: his fireplacetypes, his Ionic order, and above all the arched

window opening, flanked by rectangular win-dows, as well as the baluster solution of the Vil-la Molin, transplanted to the Queens House.

This openness to motifs derived from Scamozziis in keeping with Joness general view of archi-tecture, which ultimately derives from Palla-dios theory and actual practice, which encour-aged varying within sensible limits, and

where (as Jones knew, at least in the case ofPalazzo Thiene) borrowings from contempo-raries are not infrequent, though never ac-knowledged in the Quattro Libri. It is moreover

significant that Jones in practice (and some-times in his marginalia) recognises Scamozzislanguage as compatible with his own.

Specific borrowings from Scamozzis build-ings and designs in the English architects workdo not however give the full measure ofScamozzis importance for Jones. This impor-tance lies both in the ideas on architecture whichInigo could find in Scamozzis book and in thefact that the Vicentine architect functioned as animaginary debating partner for him. Scamozzialso offered to Jones not only a written accountof the role and desirable social standing of thearchitect, but a living model of how to maintainthe prestige of ones person and profession. That

Jones, notwithstanding his socially undistin-guished origins, attached great importance to hisstatus, is clear from Ben Jonsons violent poeticassaults on the intellectual and social pretensionsof Mr. Surveyor47.

Scamozzi for Joness possessed the notablevirtue of not being Palladio: that is of sometimes

being purblind, infelicitous in his architectur-al choices, malicious, disposed to borrow with-out acknowledgment, and hence palpably inferi-or to Palladio (and to Jones himself). Scamozzi

was a real master for the Englishman, but aboveall because he was a master with whom he coulddisagree, argue, and thereby clarify his own ideasand reinforce his architectural personality andperhaps his own ego. These debates perhaps be-gan in Vicenza; they certainly continued in the

margins of the Idea and of the Quattro Libri. Inthe Quattro Librimarginalia, the difference fromPalladio, and the weaker points of Scamozzi

were one can say dramatised, by an artist whoknew the stage and its strategies intimately.

Joness observations were written only for him-self (and are all the more credible for this, unlikeBen Jonsons public dramatisation (and perhapsexaggeration) of Joness foibles: his concern withhis status and reputation as an architect, his de-termination to display his knowledge and learn-ing48. In the notes in theIdea, in contrast, apartfrom a few amused and knowing asides, Jonesreads Scamozzi as a respected colleague, from

whom there is much to learn.

Scamozzi amused, provoked, informed andstimulated Jones intellectually. Scamozzi made

Jones clarify his ideas and decide whether,when and why Palladio offered the best pre-scriptions and models. Jones certainly createsand embellishes his Scamozo as a personagein his own interior architectural drama, just as

Jonson creates Volpone, or the Inigo of hissatires. But at the same time Scamozzi taught

Jones to study architecture intensively, crit ical-ly, comparatively. While Joness debt to Palla-dio is enormous, we should always rememberthat though he had read Palladio and examinedhis works, he had actually known Scamozzi. It

was contact with Scamozzi and his book whichcontributed substantially to making the bril-liant English stage designer a real intellectual,and a learned, reflective architect who could

weigh the views of others, and arrive at his ownposition and his own project, without being un-duly indebted to any master, including even hishero and alter ego Palladio.

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14. Inigo Jones, marginal note on Scamozzi,LIdea, cit.,I, p. 223 (Oxford, WorcesterCollege; by Courtesy of the Provost and Fel-lows of Worcester College).




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223

This text largely follows that read at theIstituto Olandese di Storia dellArte inFlorence. My view of the importance ofScamozzi for Jones built architecture isin accord with the conclusions of the firstsection of Giles Worsleys important con-tribution to this collection of essays: re-reading it when revising my paper forpublication could only strengthen thesense of loss which architectural historyhas suffered as a result of the death of agreat and creative historian of English

classicising architecture and of the workof Inigo Jones.I have tried at the last minute to cross-ref-erence the notes with would-be Jonesiandiligence to the many pertinent passagesin the illuminating new book of Christy

Anderson, Inigo Jones and the Classical Tra-dition, Cambridge 2006, which is essentialfor the understanding of Jones as a readerand his use of his written and visualsources.I am indebted to Dr. Joanna Parker, Li-brarian of Worcester College, Oxford,for her help when I was studying Jonesscopy of ScamozzisIdea, and to Dr. Silvia

Moretti for her constant support in see-ing this essay through the press.

Abbreviations used here:Idea: Vincenzo Scamozzi,LIdea della Ar-

chitettura Universale, Parte Prima,Parte Seconda, In Venetia, Presso lAu-tore, MDCXV. References are given sim-ply to the Part and to the page within thetwo Parts, which correspond to the firstand second volume of the work (i.e. I,213; II, 45 etc.): the individual books andthe chapters into which the Parts are di-

vided are not cited.Quattro Libri: Andrea Palladio, I quattrolibri dellarchitettura, Venezia 1570. I haveused the abbreviation QL to indicate

Joness copy of book, preserved atWorcester College, Oxford (the thirdedition, published in Venice in 1601).Scamozzi 2003: Vincenzo Scamozzi 1548-1616, exhibition catalogue (Vicenza, MuseoPalladio, Palazzo Barbaran da Porto, 7 Sep-tember 2003-11 January 2004), eds. F. Bar-bieri and G. Beltramini, Venezia 2003.

1. Joness copying of Palladio was repro-duced in semi-facsimile in B. Allsopp(ed.),Inigo Jones on Palladio, being the notesby Inigo Jones in the copy of I quattro libridellarchitettura di Andrea Palladio, 1601,in the Library of Worcester College, Oxford,I-II, Newcastle upon Tyne 1970. Thepage is reproduced and discussed in Ch.

Anderson, Inigo Jones and the ClassicalTradition, Cambridge 2006, pp. 114-119.

2. Allsopp (ed.),Inigo Jones, cit. [cf. no-te 1], I, p. 63: but this sheaues that Pal-ladio never saw this temple [the MaisonCarre at Nmes] for tear are no folage inthe freese of the front []. Jones wasright: Palladio based his plates of Nmesnot on direct observation but on PoldodAlbenas book on the antiquities of thecity: Jean Poldo d Albenas, Discours hi-

storial de lantique et illustre Cit de Nismesen la Gaule Narbonaise, Lyon 1559. SeeH. Spielmann, Palladio und die Antike,

Mnchen-Berlin 1966, p. 48.

3. Joness notes on the pages of the QuattroLibridedicated to the Palazzo Thiene haveoften been discussed: for reproductions see

Allsopp (ed.),Inigo Jones, cit. [cf. note 1],II, and for transcriptions, ibid., I, pp. 12-14.

4. For the passages on Scamozzis lack ofvisual judgment see below.

5.Idea, I, Indice, Horologlio: Jones hascorrectly changed the two references top. 156, to 152, and that to p. 155, to151.

6. G. Beltramini, 1a. Vincenzo Scamozzi,Progetto per villa Ferramosca a Barbano(1546-1565 ca.), in Scamozzi 2003, pp.145-149.

7. A. Hopkins, 30a. Vincenzo Scamozzi,Sezione ed elevazione del primo progetto conla soluzione a tre archi per il ponte di Rialtoa Venezia (dicembre 1587-gennaio 1588),in Scamozzi 2003, p. 286.

8. See for these drawings the followingcatalogue entries in Scamozzi 2003: G.Beltramini, 1b. Vincenzo Scamozzi, Plani-metria e prospetto di villa Ferramosca a Bar-bano, pp. 148-150; Id., 4a. Vincenzo Sca-mozzi, Pianta e due prospetti di villa Verla-to a Villaverla, and 4b. Vincenzo Scamozzi,Pianta e prospetto di villa Verlato a Villaver-la, pp. 158-160; F. Barbieri, 5a. VincenzoScamozzi, Pianta, alzato e sezione della Roc-ca Pisana, pp. 173-175; A. Pesavento, 6a.Vincenzo Scamozzi, Pianta e prospetto di pa-lazzo Trissino al Duomo, pp. 185-187; A.

Tiso, 13b. Vincenzo Scamozzi, Pianta eprospetto laterale del convento e chiesa di SanGaetano a Padova, pp. 229-231; Hopkins,30a. Vincenzo Scamozzi, Sezione ed eleva-

zione, cit. [cf. note 7], p. 286; G. Bel-tramini, 49a. Vincenzo Scamozzi, Sei studi

planimetrici per villa Priuli a Carrara, pp.363-365.

9. Strabo,La prima parte della geographia,Venezia, Francesco Senese, 1562.Scamozzi has written De Libri di Vin-cenzo Scamozzi with calligraphic ele-gance on the front flyleaf of the book: see

Anderson,Inigo Jones, cit. [cf. note 1],p. 66, where the page is also reproduced.It is not clear whether the book was soldor given to Jones by Scamozzi.

10. D. Howarth, Lord Arundel and his

Circle, New Haven (CT), 1985, p. 185

and n. 52 (citing M. Hervey, The Life,Correspondence and Collections of Thomas

Howard, Earl of Arundel, Cambridge1921, p. 487, no. 320). Hervey translatesthe inventory; the original text in Italianis published by M. Cox and L. Cust,

Notes on the Collections formed by ThomasHoward, in The Burlington Magazine,19, 1911, pp. 282-286 and 323-325.

11. L. Olivato Puppi, Per la storia di unlascito: da Vincenzo Scamozzi a Bartolomeo

Malacarne, in Atti dellIstituto Veneto diScienze, Lettere ed Arti, 133, 1974-75,pp. 347-369; G. Beltramini, A3. Testa-mento di Vincenzo Scamozzi, 1602, 2 set-tembre, in Scamozzi 2003, pp. 533-534.

12. Anderson,Inigo Jones, cit. [cf. note1], p. 65. Only Palladio (Quattro Libri, II,

pp. 69-70) before Scamozzi had at-tempted a reconstruction of the Romanagricultural villa as described by Vitru-

vius. For an evaluation of his relativesuccess in this difficult task see H. Burns,Palladio e la villa, in Andrea Palladio e laVilla Veneta da Petrarca a Carlo Scarpa ,exhibition catalogue (Vicenza, MuseoPalladio, Palazzo Barbaran da Porto, 5

March-3 July 2005), eds. G. Beltramini

and H. Burns, Venezia 2005, p. 75.Scamozzis villa (Idea, I, 284), as Jones in-dicates, is completely different from Pal-ladios: Jones in his note (QL, II, p. 69; All-sopp (ed.),Inigo Jones, cit. [cf. note 1], I,p. 31) is critical both of Palladio andScamozzi but even more of the latter; heis also familiar with Pliny the Youngersdescriptions of his villas: Scamozo makes

ye kycchen in ye back part of the houseand in no Cortill nether wch is mostagainst the text of Vi: Alluding more to an

Epistel of Plinny then other.

13. QL, I, p. 54: transcribed in Allsopp(ed.),Inigo Jones, cit. [cf. note 1], p. 13,and Anderson,Inigo Jones, cit. [cf. note1], p. 171.

14. QL, II, p. 14 (Allsopp [ed.], InigoJones , cit. [cf. note 1], I, p. 22):Scamozo and Palmo saith that thes de-signes wear of Julio Romano and execut-ed by Palladio and so yt seemes.

15. J. Harris, G. Higgott, Inigo Jones.Complete architectural drawings, London-New York, p. 66, cat. 13.

16.Ibid., p. 68, cat. 14.

17.Ibid., p. 98, cat. 29.

18.Ibid., pp. 110-115, cat. 33-35.

19.Ibid., p. 112, cat. 34.

20. For an illustration see B. Boucher,Andrea Palladio. The Architect in his Time,New York-London-Paris 1998, p. 284.

21. D. Lewis, The Drawings of AndreaPalladio, New Orleans 2000, pp. 256 ff.

22. G. Higgott, Varying with reason: InigoJoness theory of design, in ArchitecturalHistory, 35, 1992, pp. 51-77.

23. Boucher, Andrea Palladio, cit. [cf.note 17], p. 284, fig. 282.

24. Quattro Libri, II, pp. 41-42.

25. For the Winchester screen see J. Sum-merson, Inigo Jones, New Haven 2000, pp.120-121, and Harris, Higgott, Inigo

Jones, cit. [cf. note 16], pp. 248-249.The changes in the placing of the Choirin Venice and the Veneto between 1550and 1650 is the subject of an importantforthcoming study by Massimo Bisson.

26. Summerson, Inigo Jones, cit. [cf. note25], pp. 79-83.

27. This idea is suggested by Higgott,Varying with reason, cit. [cf. note 19],pp. 70-71, where Higgott also refers tothe construction of full size woodenmodels of details for the St Pauls Cathe-dral facade, so as to judge of the in situ ef-fect of his designs.

28. Timber: or Discoveries, in Ben Jonson,The Complete Poems, ed. G. Parfitt, Har-mondsworth 1996, p. 401; cfr. in thesame work pp. 448-449.

29. Higgott, Varying with reason, cit.[cf. note 19]; Quattro Libri, I, pp. 51-52(Cap.XX, De gli abusi).

30. On Scamozzis masterpiece see F.

Barbieri, H. Burns, S. Tortora, 5. La vil-la per Vettor Pisani a Lonigo, detta la Roc-ca (1574), in Scamozzi 2003, pp. 163-180.

31. On the palace (and Joness drawingfor the Cupids Pallas masque) see F. Bar-bieri, H. Burns, 31. Palazzo Trissino Ba-

ston sul Corso a Vicenza (1588), ibid., pp.288-296.

32. Allsopp (ed.), Inigo Jones, cit. [cf.

note 1], I, p. 2.

33. Harris, Higgott,Inigo Jones, cit. [cf.note 15], p. 103, cat. 31.

34.Ibid., p. 103, cat. 30 and 31.

35.Ibid., pp. 110-112, cat. 33 and 34.

36. See note 8 above for an indication ofthe drawings, now all at Chatsworth.One can also note the resemblance be-tween the rather simplified rendering ofthe architectural forms, and the way in

which wash is used, to Scamozzi draw-ings, like his study for the linking ofProcuratie Nuove with the Libreria (A.Hopkins, 12a. Vincenzo Scamozzi, Proget-to per linnesto fra la Libreria sansoviniana ele Procuratie Nuove, in Scamozzi 2003, pp.

216-217).

37. The note is in the upper margin ofJoness copy of the Quattro Libri, I, p. 50:it is transcribed by Allsopp (ed.), Inigo

Jones, cit. [cf. note 1], I, p. 12, andcommented on (and transcribed moreaccurately) by Higgott, Varying with rea-

son, cit. [cf. note 19], p. 65. In the lefthand margin of the same page Jonesmakes a similar criticism of Scamozzi fornot understanding the need to adjust de-tails according to how architectural ele-ments would be seen: Scamozo Li 6 fo20 taxeth Palladio for this cornish

wrongfully for having fewe members un-der ye modigliones not knowing that yemodigliones & 2 faccie stod far from yeeye (quoted ibid., p. 75, n. 60).

38. H. Burns,Leon Battista Alberti

, in F.P.Fiore (ed.), Storia dell Architettura Italia-na. Il Quattrocento, Milano 1998, p.136.

39. On Jones as a reader and annotator ofthe books in his own library see now An-derson,Inigo Jones, cit. [cf. note 1].

40. Christy Anderson suggestively enti-tles her fourth chapter Conversations

with the Dead (ibid., pp. 88 ff.). Onecan recall that Machiavelli writes of hisconversational exchanges with the an-cients: see the letter to Francesco Vetto-ri of 10 December 1513, in N. Machia-

velli, Lettere, ed. F. Gaeta, Milano 1961,p. 304.

41. Jones is referring to the book of CarloTheti (or Teti), Discorsi di fortificazioni, ofwhich four editions are recorded: Roma,

G. Accolto, 1569; Venezia, B. Zaltiero,1575; Venezia, F. de Franceschi , N.

Moretti, 1589; Vicenza, G. de Franceschi,1617. No copy of this work belonging to

Jones is now known, but presumably thebook was present in his library.

42. Idea, I, p. 281. In the margin of theplate of Fabriche della Ill. Casa Corneraal Paradiso, Jones writes: A [he also in-


10/10

224

scribed the letter A in the sala of the villa]/ this invention is taken from palladio fo.65 lonedo. Thus Jones has noted theclose dependence of the plan of Scamozzis

villa on that of the Villa Godi of Palladio.On the Villa Cornaro see V. Benacchio, R.

Meggidaro, S. Turolla, 67. Villa Cornaro aCastelfranco Veneto, detta il Paradiso(1607), in Scamozzi 2003, pp. 419-420.

43.Idea, I, p. 314, 32-33. Scamozzi writes:Di questa sorte di scale disegnammo

nelle inventioni mandate a Genova, lequali furono poco capite di l; []. Jonesunderlines the key phrase, and writes inthe margin: Still Scamzo hass (?) a flirrt(?) at ye Genovese.

44. Henry Wotton, The Elements of Archi-tecture, London, John Bill, 1624. On the

work, and for the literature relating to it,see H. Burns, 7. Sir Henry Wotton, The

Elements Of Architecture, London 1624, inPalladio and Northern Europe. Books, Trav-ellers, Architects, exhibition catalogue (Vi-cenza, Palazzo Barbaran da Porto, 27

March-13 June 1999), texts by G. Bel-tramini et al., Milano 1999, pp. 62-63.

45. See the notes in the lower margin ofQL, I, pp. 12, 36, 50 (A drawing of thisSr He: Wotto. The first he did for this

booke); QL, II, p. 9.

46. Wotton, The Elements of Architecture,cit. [cf. note 39], p. 10.

47. SeeAn Expostulation with Inigo Jones,To Inigo, Marquess Would Be, a Corollary,and To a Friend, An Epigram of Him, inBen Jonson, The Complete Poems, cit. [cf.note 25], pp. 345-349. The negative re-actions of the papal agent Gregorio Pan-zani, not so different from those of Ben

Jonson, appear in his despatches fromLondon: see R. Wittkower, Inigo Jones.Puritanissimo Fiero, reprinted from TheBurlington Magazine,XC, 1948, in Id.,Palladio and English Palladianism, London1983, pp. 67-70.

48. See the note above and Summerson,

Inigo Jones, cit. [cf. note 25], pp. 105-108.

Documents

Inigo Jones