NO
DBI
Leoni, Giacomo [James] (c.1686–1746), architect, a
Venetian first heard of at Düsseldorf in 1708, arrived in Britain early in the
second decade of the eighteenth century. He claimed to have been ‘Architect to
his most serene Highness the Elector Palatine’ (G. Leoni, The Architecture of
A. Palladio, 1716–20, title-page); although this remains unproven, his
residence at Düsseldorf is known from an inscription on a short manuscript
treatise. His arrival in Britain was announced with his edition of translations
(1715–19) of Palladio's Quattro libri dell'architettura (1570). In this work
Leoni replaced the original woodcuts with copperplate-engravings produced by
distinguished craftsmen in London and in Amsterdam where the print shop of
Bernard Picart was the base for distribution of the book, which carried a
French text, through Europe. The English translation was the work of Nicholas
Dubois (c.1665–1735), and was based on a French edition of 1650 rather than on
the ‘Italian Original’ mentioned on the title-page. While a complete English
translation of Palladio was a key text in the growing interest in that
architect, it was soon noted that Leoni's plates took liberties with Palladio's
buildings. Although he claimed to have seen Palladian buildings for himself, as
early as 1719 the young Lord Burlington noticed errors in his depiction of a
cornice in Vicenza, and the elevation of the Villa Valmarana was substantially
redesigned. A considerable subscription list accumulated during the course of
the publication of the work; either Leoni or, more probably, Dubois ensured
that half the artisan subscribers were members of building trades.
Leoni approached the practice of architecture by grounding himself in architectural theory. The manual written in Düsseldorf had concerned the orders according to the precepts of Palladio; for his first English patron, Henry Grey, duke of Kent, he wrote ‘Compendious Directions for Builders’. This may have been presented as early as 1713, by which time Leoni was involved in the greater labour of preparing the edition of Palladio. This theoretical preparation yielded practical fruit in a commission from the duke of Kent to modernize his house at Wrest in Bedfordshire, but although Leoni's designs were sent abroad to receive the comments of distinguished foreign architects such as Fillipo Juvarra, nothing came of them. Another early patron was James, Earl Stanhope, first lord of the Treasury, for whom he designed a triumphal arch for George I intended for Hyde Park, but this too came to nothing. Leoni's first recorded building appears to have been Queensberry House, 7 Burlington Gardens, for John Bligh, Lord Clifton, in 1721, which was built on Lord Burlington's Westminster estate. This early and prominent participation in the development of the estate suggests that, briefly, Palladio's editor may have enjoyed a measure of collaboration with Lord Burlington; at this time the earl was building up his collection of the drawings of Inigo Jones, and Colen Campbell, whose own designs had considerable impact on Leoni, was working for Burlington.
Over the next thirty years Leoni was involved in the construction of over a dozen substantial country houses, including a small group in the north-west of England, and at least six London houses; two church monuments are also known to be by him. This activity brought him little prosperity, and in 1734 one patron, Lord Fitzwalter of Moulsham, Essex, provided £25 to him, ‘being in distress’ (Edwards, 53). Nor does a substantial body of work survive on which an assessment of his work can be based: Moulsham (1728) was demolished in 1816, Bodecton Park, Sussex (1738), in 1826, Lathom, Lancashire (c.1740), in 1929. Two of his greatest schemes, for Carshalton, Surrey (1723–7), and Thorndon, Essex (1733–1742), were never completed. The narrow record of his extant works can be widened slightly by engraved designs of projects which he published in 1729. The country houses adhere to a slightly austere Palladian formula: many of the fronts are tall and only barely articulated, though the survival of either Carshalton or Thorndon might have modified this severe impression. Leoni's most extensive surviving work is Lyme Park, Cheshire (c.1725–35), where he ingeniously adapted the formalities of his Palladianism to the complexities of an earlier house. The galleries are carried on an arcade round the interior court, masking the irregularity of the space, while the projecting Ionic portico on the south front was one of his grandest statements. Little evidence of his interest in the villa form survives but a small group of town houses, including Queensberry House, shows that he took part in the fashionable development of the city of Westminster.
Publication continued to provide Leoni with the possibility of additional income, but his interests were erudite and ambitious. From as early as 1719 he was intending to publish a translation of Alberti's De re aedificatoria and the first volume appeared in 1726. Again the translation was not his (it was by John Ozell); his main contribution was the preparation of drawings for the engravers. In the third volume, published by 1730, he included Some Designs for Buildings both Publick and Private, a collection of engravings of eight of his designs, three of which had been executed, including Carshalton and Queensberry House. Towards the end of his life he was preparing to publish a ‘Treatise of Architecture and ye Art of Building Publick and Private Edifices … Containing Several Noblemen's Houses & Country Seats’ of his own design, but this was cut short by his death. Leoni died on 8 June 1746 after a month's illness, during which his benefactor Lord Fitzwalter had sent him £8 8s. ‘par charité’ (Edwards, 64). He was buried in St Pancras old churchyard, Middlesex, and left a wife, Mary, and two sons, one of whom was probably a clerk to Matthew Brettingham.
Sources: Colvin, Archs. · R. Hewlings, ‘James Leoni, c.1686–1746: an Anglicized Venetian’, The architectural outsiders, ed. R. Brown (1985), 21–44 · E. Harris and N. Savage, British architectural books and writers, 1556–1785 (1990) · T. P. Hudson, ‘Moor Park, Leoni and Thornhill’, Burlington Magazine, 113 (1971), 657–61 · T. Friedman, ‘Lord Harrold in Italy, 1715–16: four frustrated commissions to Leoni, Juvarra, Chiari and Soldani’, Burlington Magazine, 130 (1988), 836–45, esp. 837–40 · J. Cornforth, ‘Lyme Park, Cheshire [pts 1–2]’, Country Life, 156 (1974), 1724–7, 1998–2001 · A. C. Edwards, ed., The account books of Benjamin Mildmay, Earl Fitzwalter (1977)
Leoni approached the practice of architecture by grounding himself in architectural theory. The manual written in Düsseldorf had concerned the orders according to the precepts of Palladio; for his first English patron, Henry Grey, duke of Kent, he wrote ‘Compendious Directions for Builders’. This may have been presented as early as 1713, by which time Leoni was involved in the greater labour of preparing the edition of Palladio. This theoretical preparation yielded practical fruit in a commission from the duke of Kent to modernize his house at Wrest in Bedfordshire, but although Leoni's designs were sent abroad to receive the comments of distinguished foreign architects such as Fillipo Juvarra, nothing came of them. Another early patron was James, Earl Stanhope, first lord of the Treasury, for whom he designed a triumphal arch for George I intended for Hyde Park, but this too came to nothing. Leoni's first recorded building appears to have been Queensberry House, 7 Burlington Gardens, for John Bligh, Lord Clifton, in 1721, which was built on Lord Burlington's Westminster estate. This early and prominent participation in the development of the estate suggests that, briefly, Palladio's editor may have enjoyed a measure of collaboration with Lord Burlington; at this time the earl was building up his collection of the drawings of Inigo Jones, and Colen Campbell, whose own designs had considerable impact on Leoni, was working for Burlington.
Over the next thirty years Leoni was involved in the construction of over a dozen substantial country houses, including a small group in the north-west of England, and at least six London houses; two church monuments are also known to be by him. This activity brought him little prosperity, and in 1734 one patron, Lord Fitzwalter of Moulsham, Essex, provided £25 to him, ‘being in distress’ (Edwards, 53). Nor does a substantial body of work survive on which an assessment of his work can be based: Moulsham (1728) was demolished in 1816, Bodecton Park, Sussex (1738), in 1826, Lathom, Lancashire (c.1740), in 1929. Two of his greatest schemes, for Carshalton, Surrey (1723–7), and Thorndon, Essex (1733–1742), were never completed. The narrow record of his extant works can be widened slightly by engraved designs of projects which he published in 1729. The country houses adhere to a slightly austere Palladian formula: many of the fronts are tall and only barely articulated, though the survival of either Carshalton or Thorndon might have modified this severe impression. Leoni's most extensive surviving work is Lyme Park, Cheshire (c.1725–35), where he ingeniously adapted the formalities of his Palladianism to the complexities of an earlier house. The galleries are carried on an arcade round the interior court, masking the irregularity of the space, while the projecting Ionic portico on the south front was one of his grandest statements. Little evidence of his interest in the villa form survives but a small group of town houses, including Queensberry House, shows that he took part in the fashionable development of the city of Westminster.
Publication continued to provide Leoni with the possibility of additional income, but his interests were erudite and ambitious. From as early as 1719 he was intending to publish a translation of Alberti's De re aedificatoria and the first volume appeared in 1726. Again the translation was not his (it was by John Ozell); his main contribution was the preparation of drawings for the engravers. In the third volume, published by 1730, he included Some Designs for Buildings both Publick and Private, a collection of engravings of eight of his designs, three of which had been executed, including Carshalton and Queensberry House. Towards the end of his life he was preparing to publish a ‘Treatise of Architecture and ye Art of Building Publick and Private Edifices … Containing Several Noblemen's Houses & Country Seats’ of his own design, but this was cut short by his death. Leoni died on 8 June 1746 after a month's illness, during which his benefactor Lord Fitzwalter had sent him £8 8s. ‘par charité’ (Edwards, 64). He was buried in St Pancras old churchyard, Middlesex, and left a wife, Mary, and two sons, one of whom was probably a clerk to Matthew Brettingham.
Sources: Colvin, Archs. · R. Hewlings, ‘James Leoni, c.1686–1746: an Anglicized Venetian’, The architectural outsiders, ed. R. Brown (1985), 21–44 · E. Harris and N. Savage, British architectural books and writers, 1556–1785 (1990) · T. P. Hudson, ‘Moor Park, Leoni and Thornhill’, Burlington Magazine, 113 (1971), 657–61 · T. Friedman, ‘Lord Harrold in Italy, 1715–16: four frustrated commissions to Leoni, Juvarra, Chiari and Soldani’, Burlington Magazine, 130 (1988), 836–45, esp. 837–40 · J. Cornforth, ‘Lyme Park, Cheshire [pts 1–2]’, Country Life, 156 (1974), 1724–7, 1998–2001 · A. C. Edwards, ed., The account books of Benjamin Mildmay, Earl Fitzwalter (1977)
Archives
Nessun commento:
Posta un commento