Nicholas Revett

Nicholas Revett (1721–1804) was a British architect. Revett is best known for his work with James "Athenian" Stuart documenting the ruins of ancient Athens. He is sometimes described as an amateur architect, but he played an important role in the revival of Greek architecture.

Revett is believed to have been born in Framlingham, Suffolk, although his family lived at Brandeston nearby. He was baptised in the Church of St Michael the Archangel, Framlingham.

He studied with the proto-Neoclassical painter Marco Benefial.

He died in London, and was buried in Brandeston.

Revet met James Stuart in Italy where they had gone to further their artistic education. They decided to travel on to Greece. According to the Dictionary of National Biography, they became acquainted with Sir James Gray, K.B., the British resident at Venice, prior to visiting Greece, and through his agency, they were elected members of the Society of Dilettanti in London. The Society was founded by men including Gray who had been on the Grand Tour: its patronage was to prove important to Revett.

In Greece they stayed mainly in Athens, where they arrived in 1751. They also visited the Aegean Islands including Delos.

In England Revett and Stuart prepared their work for publication and found subscribers for The Antiquities of Athens. The project was intended to consist of four volumes, although a supplementary volume also appeared. The illustrations include 368 etched and engraved plates, plans and maps drawn at scale. Although their French rival Julien-David Le Roy published his book about ancient Greek monuments Les Ruines des plus beaux bâtiments de la Grèce before The Antiquities of Athens, the accuracy of Revett and Stuart's work gives their survey a claim to be the first of its kind in studies of ancient Greece; for example, Revett and Stuart were the first Europeans to describe the existence of ancient Greek polychromy.

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