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Inigo Jones self portrait
Drawing: I. Jones (1640s)
Source: RIBA British Architectural Library Drawings & Archives Collection

As the only portrait in the exhibition, the inclusion of this image may appear odd. This is, however, a very special drawing. Though some four centuries separate us, excitingly we can directly encounter an elderly Inigo Jones.

Jones stares out intently, perhaps suppressing a smile. His costume seems odd; his hat more like a crown, with beard and flowing locks touching what appears to be a wide ruff. He is very much the courtier here, far from the mason-craftsman origins of his predecessors like Robert Smythson. Such a guise was perhaps more appropriate to his title as Surveyor of the King’s Works, under the fashion-conscious James I and Charles I - monarchs determined to keep up with Continental trends.

This is no formal portrait. Despite the delicate strokes of Jones’ pen modelling his sharp features, this is but one sketch on the sheet. Beneath, a more rapid composition can be seen, most probably a sculptural study. Three muscled figures are grouped around a central shield. The pen strokes are bold, confident and economical. Much is conveyed here in a style and method similar to many sixteenth-century Italian artists. This sheet then not only reveals the face of the first British architect, and suggests his character; we can also glimpse the fertility of his mind. It was this that gained him his position, patrons, commissions, and, much later, his legendary reputation.