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A Composition of the Works of Inigo Jones
Watercolour: Sir William Tite (1854)
Source: RIBA British Architectural Library Drawings & Archives Collection

Visitors to the Royal Academy in 1854 were astonished by this huge watercolour by Sir William Tite (1798-1873). Some 57 buildings can be found neatly arranged on the canvas, all drawn to the same scale and lit in a golden light

After Christopher Wren, Inigo Jones was the most famous British architect of the seventeenth century. However, despite his fame little was known about his career at this date. Many of the buildings included in this picture had nothing whatsoever to do with Inigo Jones. After all, Jones died in 1652. Many of the buildings date from long after this, some as late as 1710! Like C.R. Cockerell’s ‘Tribute to Sir Christopher Wren’ (1838), historical accuracy was sacrificed for compositional impact.

Tite has arranged his composition around Whitehall Palace. Most of Jones's plans for this remained but a paper dream – only the Banqueting House was built. This didn’t stop Tite: using Jones' drawings, he resurrected Whitehall, albeit his own version. Behind this can be seen a remodelled St Paul’s Cathedral. A strange Gothic / Classical hybrid, Jones’s great Classical portico fronts the much buttressed Gothic cathedral, with its soaring spire, all lost in the Great Fire of 1666. Dotted around are various houses, villas and chapels. Most are English, others Scottish, some Welsh: a peculiar assembly of buildings, revealing an enthusiasm for Jones.