for the Rebuilding of Whitehall, 1619.
From Kent’s “Inigo Jones.”
Part of the Second Design by Inigo Jones
for the Rebuilding of Whitehall, 1639.
From Campbell’s “Vitruvius Britannicus.”
The chief points of this design may be briefly indicated here, as the next chapter will be filled with matters of a very different character. The western front was to be towards the street of Whitehall; that is to say, the palace was to be less than half the size of that designed for James I. No archways were needed across the road. In the middle of this façade was a fine arch, opening between the Banqueting House toward the north and the Chapel, the corresponding building toward the south. The wall between was very simple, only containing three rows of square-headed windows. What would have been a beautiful and picturesque feature were the domed towers which formed the ends of the front, each containing a triple Venetian window. The side to the river was to have a kind of arcade or cloister; but the Persians and the Caryatides have disappeared, with most of the reception-rooms and public halls. This design was brought forward again after the fire in 1698; but William III. was too busy with the Continental war, and probably also too poor to do anything. It is worth more than a passing glance, and includes some of Jones’s most matured work. Campbell obtained it in 1717 from an “ingenious gentleman,” probably an architect, and possibly the architect whom William proposed to employ in rebuilding the palace. It will be found in the second volume of the Vitruvius Britannicus.