Inigo Jones

Inigo Jones
Portrait of Inigo Jones painted by William Hogarth in 1758 from a 1636 painting by Sir Anthony van Dyck
Born	(1573-07-15)15 July 1573 London, England
Died	21 June 1652(1652-06-21) (aged 78) Somerset House, London, England
Nationality	English
Occupation	Architect
Buildings	Banqueting House, Whitehall Queen's House Wilton House Covent Garden

Inigo Jones (/ˈɪnᵻɡoʊ/; 15 July 1573 – 21 June 1652) was the first significant English architect (of Welsh ancestry) in the early modern period, and the first to employ Vitruvian rules of proportion and symmetry in his buildings. As the most notable architect in England, Jones was the first person who introduced the classical architecture of Rome and the Italian Renaissance to Britain. He left his mark on London by single buildings, such as the Queen's House which is the first building in England designed in a pure classical style, and the Banqueting House, Whitehall, as well as the layout for Covent Garden square which became a model for future developments in the West End. He made major contributions to stage design by his work as theatrical designer for several dozen masques, most by royal command and many in collaboration with Ben Jonson.

Beyond the fact that he was born in Smithfield, London, the son of Inigo Jones, a Welsh cloth worker, and baptised at the church of St Bartholomew-the-Less, little is known about Jones's early years. He did not approach the architectural profession in the traditional way, namely either by rising up from a craft or through early exposure to the Office of Works, although there is evidence that Christopher Wren obtained information that recorded Jones as an apprentice joiner in St Paul's Churchyard. At some point before 1603 a rich patron (possibly the Earl of Pembroke or the Earl of Rutland) sent him to Italy to study drawing after being impressed by the quality of his sketches. From Italy he travelled to Denmark where he worked for King Christian on the design of the palaces of Rosenborg and Frederiksborg.