Unidentified Town House: Front Elevation

Download4000 × 2449 px View on a wall Edit

Artist: Colen Campbell (British, 1676–1729)
Medium: Graphite, pen and wash within triple-ruled border on medium, slightly textured, cream laid paper
Size: Sheet: 12 5/16 x 19 1/4 inches (31.3 x 48.9 cm)
Museum: Yale Center for British Art
Rights: CC0 — no rights reserved

Colen Campbell’s drawing shows the front elevation of an unidentified town house characteristic of the architect’s interest in the Palladian style. A heavy, rusticated ground floor establishes a solid foundation, from which rises a principal story faced with windows framed by attenuated Corinthian columns and alternating segmental pediments. The attic is demarcated by square fenestration with shouldered architraves, while the whole facade is crowned by a full entablature and balustraded parapet.

The urban palazzo was an important building type in Palladian architecture, and perhaps this drawing is an effort to introduce such buildings to England, although measuring 148 feet at its street front, it is unusually long for a Campbell town house. Indeed, the building reflects the Palladian hierarchical facade, with arcaded rustication and classical ornament. Campbell’s design, however, omits much of the ornament included in original Palladian schemes, resulting in a simpler yet more impactful facade. The design was probably never executed.

Text: Yale Center for British Art.