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A Newly-Discovered Drawing by James Stuart
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 April 2016
Extract
As the architect of the Greek Doric Temple at Hagley, it has long been acknowledged that James ‘Athenian’ Stuart was a pioneer of the neo-classical movement in Britain; yet his career is not well documented, and, until the restoration of Spencer House, scholarly attention had focused upon the publication of The Antiquities of Athens and its influence on the development of the Greek Revival. Recent research has revealed, however, that Stuart’s source material was eclectic, ranging from ancient Greek and Roman motifs to those derived from the Renaissance and baroque. Without doubt, one of his formative influences was Andrea Palladio, with whose publications and buildings he was thoroughly familiar by the end of his sojourn in Italy in 1751. Indeed, one of the reasons Stuart gave for publishing The Antiquities of Athens was the dearth of examples of the Doric and Ionic orders given in the Quattro Libri dell’Architettura, while his visit to Pola in 1750; must have been made with Palladio’s description of the Istrian monuments in mind. Presumably Stuart hoped to establish his own credentials by publicizing Palladio’s mistakes in measurement, much as Desgodetz had done some seventy years earlier with the antiquities of Rome.
- Type
- Section 3: Drawings and Designs
- Information
- Copyright
- Copyright © Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain 2001
References
Notes
1 Early in his career Stuart had been associated with Louis and Joseph Goupy, both of whom were members of the St Martin’s Lane Academy. This was first mentioned in Stuart’s obituary in The Gentleman’s Magazine, March 1788, pp. 216-18.
2 Stuart became a member of the Society for the Promotion of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce in June 1756. Royal Society of Arts, Committee Minutes 1718-1766.
3 Graves, Algernon, Society of Artists of Great Britain 1760–1791. The Free Society of Artists 1761–1783. A Complete Dictionary of Contributors and their work from the foundation of the societies to 1791 (London, 1907)Google Scholar.
4 Royal Society, Journal Copy Book, XXIII (1757-60), pp. 39, 135 Google Scholar; British Library, Egerton MS 2381, fols 38, 56, 59,78.
5 British Library, Additional MS 27576, fol. 7.
6 Harris, John, ‘Newly Acquired Designs by James Stuart in the British Architectural Library, Drawings Collection’, Architectural History, 22 (1979), pp. 72–77 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
7 Bodleian Library, MS Top. Lond. C.2, fol. 47, entry for 21 October 1762.
8 See, for example, ibid., fol. 79, entry for 18 January 1770; fol. 88, entry for 18 April 1771; and fol. 96, entry for 17 January 1774.
9 Ibid., fol. 105, entry for 3 November 1775.
10 Harris, op. cit., pls 22b & 26b.
11 Richardson, Margaret (ed.), Catalogue of the Drawings Collection of the Royal Institute of British Architects, Volume ‘S’ (London, 1976), p. 124 Google Scholar.
12 Believed in the eighteenth century to be Palladio’s own house.
13 Sir James Gray nominated Stuart and Revett for membership of the Society of Dilettanti at this time, while Consul Smith set on foot a scheme to collect subscriptions.
14 Lever, Jill (ed.), Catalogue of the Drawings Collection of the Royal Institute of British Architects, Volume ‘T-Z’ (London, 1984), p. 18 Google Scholar.
15 It should be noted that this was long before Kent had begun to practise as an architect.
16 Mrs Stuart’s financial situation was so desperate that she attempted to claim her late husband’s annuity from Thomas Anson’s estate (Staffordshire Record Office, Lichfield MS D615/P(S)/2/3).
17 Copies of The Antiquities of Athens (vols 1-3) and De Obelisco Caesaris Augusti were sold on day sixteen of the sale of books that Gough did not leave to the Bodleian (A Catalogue of the Entire and Valuable Library . . . of that Eminent Antiquary, Richard Gough, Esq., Deceased. Which will be sold by Auction, by S. Leigh and S. Sotheby, Booksellers . . . (London, 1810)).
18 Colvin, Howard, A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600–1840, 3rd edn (New Haven & London, 1995), p. 807 Google Scholar.