BOOK REVIEWS ration of Ruskin's "ruralizing cheesemonger". The Georgian Villa is best described as a summary presentation of research interests and lies somewhere between the mainstream disciplines of architectural and social history. To edit conference papers into a cohesive readable book is a notoriously unwieldy task and, whilst Dana Arnold is to be congratulated on marshalling these essays together into a generally worthwhile and relevant whole, the subject matter is acknowledged by definition as imprecise and the essays are therefore best read in isolation. Nevertheless, the text is supported throughout by well chosen architectural or artistic illustrations and photographs, many selected from archive sources, and the book is well worth consideration by the serious student of the Georgian period. Duncan Gillard THE MYSTERIOUS MRBUCK Lord Burlington, Architecture, Art and Life. Edited by Toby Barnard and Jane Clark. Hambleton Press, Ldndon 1995. Hardback 247 X 187 mm. 328pp+xxix. 72 b&w photos & illus. ISBN 185285 094 9.£37.50 Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington (1694-1753), is usually credited with overseeing the triumph of the architecture of Andrea Palladio as the predominant national style of 18thcentury building in preference to the high baroque advocated CONTEXT 52 by rivals such as Archer, Kent and Gibbs. By meticulous analysis of his major building, Chiswick House, and by determined investigation of every kind of influence on his life, this collection of essays has been compiled to suggest that the modern standing of Lord Burlington's architectural achievement is, at the very least, inaccurate and, more controversially, may even be incidental, for the authors provide compelling evidence to suggest that the primary motives in Burlington's life lay outside the fields of architecture and aesthetics. The major part of the book consists of a thorough exploration of the actual sources for the architectural composition at Chiswick House. By identifying 50 individual features of Chiswick such as the Vitruvian scroll, the dome and the obelisk, and by analysing their derivation in relation to Palladio, English Heritage historian Richard Hewlings concludes that Burlington used many sources, most of which were merely contemporary with Palladio and few, if any, were derived purely from ancient provenance. Hewlings shows that the term 'Palladian' is not only questionable as an epithet for Burlington but is of dubious value as an architectural description altogether - "If [Palladian architecture] is no more than a good imitation of something else, presumably it does not exist". The second part of the book presents a series of essays investigating diverse aspects of Burlington's life including his ancestry, his influence on certain 18thcenturyarchitects, his relationship with philosophical, literary and artistic contemporaries and, most controversially, his politics and allegiance to the establishment. Burlington belongs to the era of political uncertainty brought about by the Hanoverian succession. His accepted role as a supporter of the establishment with an interest in architecture and aesthetics is questioned by Jane Clarke's compelling contention that Burlington may have been a Jacobite whose European grand tours were sophisticated fronts for continental espionage and whose correspondence and architecture give expressions to clandestine loyalties. Implied allegiances to Freemasonry, Rosecrucians and Templars are identified and references dating from the 1630s to the 1990s add weight to the speculation - but, as the reader is warned in the introduction, speculation it remains. An interesting chapter on the symbolism and meaning of the features of Chiswick House and its gardens confirms that the display of wit and classical reference was an essential element of the 18th-century landscape garden. However, at Chiswick it is acknowledged that many of the allegories are contrived, unintended or unintelligible. Much of the second part of the book, although clearly argued and carefully researched, is similarly abstract and theoretical, particularly the Masonic inferences. More conventional architectural investigation, for example an identification and interpretation of Burlington's other buildings or a comparison with the 'Palladian' work of Colen Campbell would be more rewarding to the reader. This book is intended neither as straightforward architectural history nor as simple biography. It provides a rarefied assessment of Burlington's single most famous building together with a highly academic interpretation of certain aspects of his life. Information and analysis is therefore either intense or incidental and the student new to Burlington and 'Palladianism' would be well advised to begin elsewhere. Examination of Lord Burlington's life and work, particularly the derivation and meaning of his deliberately mysterious creation at Chiswick and the motivation for its construction, is necessarily speculative. This collection of essays is nonetheless valuable as an interesting interpretation of an influential building and an intriguing life. Duncan Gillard NOWWITHTHERMALLY DECOUPLEDLINING FAITHFUL REPLICAOFLOW-PROFILEVICTORIANROOFLIGHT SPECIALS DESIGNSERVICEAVAILABLE DOUBLEGLAZEDANDDRAUGHTSTRIPPED NOWWITHTHERMALLYDECOUPLEDLINING FREQUENTLYRECOMMENDEDBYENGLISH ERITAGE ANDSPECIFIEDBYTHENATIONALTRUST theConservationlloojligbtis obtainedfrom: TheMetalWindowCo. Ltd. TheOldStables.OxleazeFann,Filkins,Lechlade, Glos.GL731/B.Tel/Pax01367850313 47
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