The Earl of Burlington | |
|---|---|
 Portrait byJonathan Richardson,c. 1718 | |
| Lord High Treasurer of Ireland | |
| In office 25 August 1715 – 3 December 1753 | |
| Preceded by | The Lord Carleton |
| Succeeded by | Marquess of Hartington |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 25 April 1694 |
| Died | 4 December 1753(1753-12-04) (aged 59) Chiswick House, London[1] |
| Spouse | Lady Dorothy Savile |
| Children |
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| Parents |
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Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington (25 April 1694 – 4 December 1753) was a British architect and politician often called the "Apollo of the Arts" and the "Architect Earl". The son of the2nd Earl of Burlington and 3rd Earl of Cork, Burlington never took more than a passing interest in politics despite his position as aPrivy Counsellor and a member of both the BritishHouse of Lords and theIrish House of Lords.
His great interests in life were architecture and landscaping, and he is remembered for being a builder and a patron of architects, craftsmen and landscapers, Indeed, he is credited with bringingPalladian architecture to Britain and Ireland. His major projects includeBurlington House,Westminster School,Chiswick House andNorthwick Park.
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Lord Burlington was born inYorkshire into a wealthyAnglo-Irisharistocratic family, the only son ofCharles Boyle, 2nd Earl of Burlington and his wife, Juliana Boyle (née Noel; 1672–1750). He succeeded to his titles and extensive estates inYorkshire and Ireland at the age of nine, after his father's death in February 1704. During his minority, which lasted until 1715, his English and Irish lands, as also his political interests and patronages, were managed by his mother.[2]
Burlington showed a fondness for music at an early age.Georg Frideric Handel dedicated two operas to Burlington while staying at his residenceBurlington House:Teseo andAmadigi di Gaula. According to Hawkins,Francesco Barsanti dedicated the six recorder sonatas of his Op. 1 to Lord Burlington, although the dedication must have appeared on the edition sold byPeter Bressan, before Walsh & Hare engraved the works c. 1727.[3]
Three foreignGrand Tours taken between 1714 and 1719, and a further trip to Paris in 1726, gave him opportunities to develop his taste. His professional skill as an architect (always supported by a mason-contractor) was extraordinary in an English aristocrat. He carried his copy ofAndrea Palladio's bookI quattro libri dell'architettura with him when touring theVeneto in 1719, but made notes on a number of blank pages, having found the region flooded and many villas inaccessible.[4] It was on this tour that he acquired the passion for Palladian architecture. In 1719, he was one of the main subscribers of theRoyal Academy of Music, a corporation that producedbaroque opera on stage.[5][6]
Lord Burlington's first project, appropriately, was one of his own London residences, Burlington House, where he dismissed hisbaroque architectJames Gibbs when he returned from the continent in 1719, and employed the Scottish architectColen Campbell, with the history-painter-turned-designerWilliam Kent assigned for the interiors. The courtyard front of Burlington House, prominently sited inPiccadilly, was the first major executed statement ofNeo-Palladianism.
In the 1720s, Burlington and Campbell parted, and Burlington was assisted in his projects by the youngHenry Flitcroft ("Burlington Harry"), who developed into a major architect of the second Neo-Palladian generation,Daniel Garrett, a straightforward Palladian architect of the second rank, and some draughtsmen.
Lord Burlington never closely inspectedRoman ruins or made detailed drawings on the sites; he relied on Palladio andScamozzi as his interpreters of the classic tradition to do so. Burlington's Palladio drawings include many reconstructions ofVitruvius' Roman buildings, which he planned to publish. In the meantime, he adapted the palazzo facade in the illustration for the London house ofGeneral Wade atOld Burlington Street in 1723, which was published forVitruvius Britannicus iii (1725).
This publication put a previously unknown Palladio design into circulation. Another source of his inspiration were drawings he collected, some drawings of Palladio himself which had belonged toInigo Jones, and many more of Inigo Jones' pupilJohn Webb, whichWilliam Kent published in 1727 (although a date of 1736 is generally accepted) as "Some Designs of Mr Inigo Jones"... with some additional designs that were by Kent and Burlington. The important role of Jones' pupil Webb in transmitting the palladian-neo-palladian heritage was not understood until the 20th century.
By the early 1730s, Palladian style had triumphed as the generally accepted manner for a British country house or public building. For the rest of his life, Lord Burlington was "the Apollo of the arts" asHorace Walpole phrased it— and Kent, "his proper priest."
In 1731,Alexander Pope, who had been a friend of Burlington since about 1715, addressed the first of hisMoral Essays to him, on the subjectOf False Taste. This described good taste in specific interests of his, such as landscaping, gardens and architecture.
In 1739, Lord Burlington was involved in the founding of a new charitable organisation called theFoundling Hospital. Burlington was a governor of the charity, but did not formally take part in planning the construction of this largeBloomsbury children's home, completed in 1742. The architect for the building was aTheodore Jacobsen, who took on the commission as an act of charity.
Many of Lord Burlington's projects have suffered from rebuilding or additions, from fire, or from losses due tourban sprawl. In many cases, his ideas were informal: atHolkham Hall, the architectMatthew Brettingham recalled that "the general ideas were first struck out by the Earl of Burlington and theEarl of Leicester, assisted by Mr. William Kent." Brettingham's engraved publication of Holkham credited Burlington specifically with the ceilings for the portico and the north dressing room.
Lord Burlington's architectural drawings, inherited by his son-in-law,William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire, are preserved atChatsworth House, and enable attributions that would not otherwise be possible. In 1751, he sent some of his drawings toFrancesco Algarotti inPotsdam, together with a book on Vitruvius.[7]
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Burlington marriedLady Dorothy Savile on 21 March 1720, the daughter ofWilliam Savile, 2nd Marquess of Halifax and his second wife, Lady Mary Finch.
Mary was the daughter ofDaniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham andLady Essex Rich (died 1684). Essex was the daughter ofRobert Rich, 3rd Earl of Warwick, and Anne Cheeke. Anne was the daughter of Sir Thomas Cheeke ofPirgo and an earlier Lady Essex Rich (died 1659). This Lady Essex was the daughter ofRobert Rich, 1st Earl of Warwick andLady Penelope Devereux. Essex was probably named after her maternal grandfatherWalter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex. Her maternal grandmother wasLettice Knollys.
They had three daughters:
Burlington died at Chiswick House, aged 59. Upon his death, the Earldom of Cork passed to a cousin,John Boyle, and the title of the Earl of Burlington became extinct. It was recreated in 1831 for his grandson, George Cavendish, and is now held by the Cavendish family as a courtesy title for the Dukes of Devonshire.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Lord Treasurer of Ireland 1715–1753 | Succeeded by |
| Honorary titles | ||
| Preceded by | Custos Rotulorum of the East Riding of Yorkshire 1715–1721 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Custos Rotulorum of the North Riding of Yorkshire 1715–1722 | Succeeded by |
| Vice-Admiral of Yorkshire 1715–1739 | Succeeded by | |
| Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire 1715–1733 | Succeeded by | |
| Preceded by | Custos Rotulorum of the North Riding of Yorkshire 1722–1733 | |
| Preceded by | Captain of the Gentlemen Pensioners 1731–1734 | Succeeded by |
| Peerage of Ireland | ||
| Preceded by | Earl of Cork 1704–1753 | Succeeded by |
| Peerage of England | ||
| Preceded by | Earl of Burlington 1704–1753 | Extinct |
| Baron Clifford 1704–1753 | Succeeded by | |
