John Vanbrugh was
born January 24, 1664 in the family of a British merchant. In his younger
years, he managed to serve in the army where he was accused of espionage by the
French. A few years he spent in prison the Bastille.
Vanbrugh returned to England, where became interested in drama and began to earn a living. But soon, his plays
and comedies of manners (especially "Insulted wife" ("The
Provoked Wife"), which enjoyed great popularity, were considered immoral,
and at the end of the century Vanbrugh had to change the area of activity.
New hobby became
architecture. Per 25 years, he designed several houses, the most famous of
which were Castle Howard (Castle Howard) and Blenheim Palace (Palace Blenheim).
The first major work of
John Vanbrugh became the manor with lock Castle Howard, designed in 1702 for
the royal treasurer Lord Carlisle (Lord Carlisle). In 1704- for the Duke of
Marlborough was built a luxury home in Blenheim.
In 1714 King George I
Vanbrugh was knighted as a sign that his work at the Palace of Blenheim deserve the highest praise. In 1715, Vanbrugh was the inspector of the royal gardens,
and in 1716 the inspector of Greenwich Hospital (Greenwich Hospital).
Vanbrugh became known
not only thanks to the skills of architectural planning, but also the
construction of the garden, and his contribution to the development of garden
and landscape art recognized and invaluable. This is well illustrated by the
example of his work at Castle Howard.
To the east of the
house was dismantled an abandoned village to clear the area for planting the
garden designed by Vanbrugh. Rural path up the hill, where a wide trail,
overgrown with grass and surrounded by statues, leads to the Temple 4 winds,
engineered Vanbrugh, but never of tuning. If you stand in front of the Temple
and look at the Hawksmoor's Mausoleum with its grand dome and columns, you can
see one of the best example of landscape design in England.
Horace Walpole,
English writer and the founder of the XVIII century Gothic novel genre, spoken
about this work of John Vanbrugh: "No one warned me that the one point
I see the palace, the city, the temples on the hills, woods, meadow, limited
the horizon, and the Mausoleum ... ".
No less grand in a scale
project Vanbru created in Blenheim.
“As we passed through
the entrance archway and the lovely scenery burst upon me. This is the finest
view in England. Looking at the lake, the bridge, the miles of magnificent park
studded with old oaks, I found no adequate words to express my admiration and
when we reached the huge stately palace, I confess I felt awed” wrote many years later
Lady Randolph Churchill describing her first impressions of Blenheim Palace in
1874.
Today Sir John
Vanbrugh’s magnificent baroque architecture and the beautiful landscape and
lake inspire a similar feeling of awe in many of the thousands of modern day
visitors to Blenheim Palace.
Today, historians
acknowledge John Vanbrugh as one of the most important representatives of the
heyday of the English Baroque. Vanbrugh never learned to garden design and
especially architecture, but his inspiration has influenced the English garden
art and architecture. Perhaps this is a man not burdened with the laws of the
genre, could create such large-scale projects.
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