VANBRUGH, John

(1664-1726)

   John Vanbrugh, a successor to Inigo Jones and then Christopher Wren in England, is known for his heavy, theatrical, Baroque style of architecture, which was well suited for the monumental buildings constructed in England during this time. Coming from a wealthy family of merchants, Vanbrugh was very politically active throughout his career and at one point landed in the Bastille. As a Restoration playwright, he attained both fame and notoriety for his bawdy and satirical works, the most famous of which are The Relapse (1696) and The Provoked Wife (1697). Vanbrugh was very forward-looking in terms of his desire for greater social equality.

   His most famous building, Blenheim Palace, located north of London in Woodstock, was built beginning in 1705 for the national hero the first Duke of Marlborough. It recalls Versailles not only in its vast scale and rural setting, but also in its Baroque, theatrical organization. The palace is entered through a gate into a vast court that is almost as large as the piazza of Saint Peter's in Rome. Then, after dismounting from horses and carriages, the visitor entered the central building through a forecourt. From that core, massive wings spreading out from either side are organized around a series of internal courtyards. The symmetrical complex is built up as if the buildings were stuck together to create the whole. This way, the complex is broken down into smaller units that make it more visually accessible and provide a rhythm to the overall appearance. Towers that recall a medieval castle cap each corner. A huge lawn opens up behind the garden façade of the palace, bordered on either side by a small wooded area. As at Versailles, this space was used for outdoor entertainment and performances of music, theater, and dance. The garden was originally planned as just a small garden for vegetables and herbs, but the surrounding landscape was enlarged dramatically by Lancelot "Capability" Brown in the 1760s. Instead of designing one of the very popular French gardens with a geometrical and formal setting of box-wood hedges and rose bushes, Brown created what is now called a "picturesque" setting, with a vast lawn of grass surrounded by undulating lines of trees in a more relaxed, yet still artfully arranged, natural setting. Thus, Blenheim, which is the largest domestic palace not built for the royal family, was an important villa prototype for the monumental rural home increasingly popular in the 18th-century English countryside.