Overview
The importance of the third earl of Burlington (1695-1753) as a patron and practitioner of the arts, especially of architecture, has long been recognised. Indeed he has been credited with sponsoring and engineering the Palladian revival in England. Despite his fame, surprisingly little has been written about him.
This book presents a modern reassessment of his career, while setting him in a broader context than has usually been the case. His achievement at Chiswick House is examined here in detail by Richard Hewlings, who traces Burlington's ideas at Chiswick to exact sources in Classical and Renaissance architecture. His original and outstanding contribution, which constitutes the first half of the book, marks a fundamental advance in the interpretation of Burlington's architecture and its meaning.