View source for Banqueting House, Whitehall

The Banqueting House in London was designed by [[Inigo Jones]], a famous architect and designer, in 1619 for [[James I]]. The Vitruvian basilica served as a model for the Banqueting House. It was once part of [[Whitehall Palace]] which was partly destroyed during a fire in 1698. Only the Banqueting House remained.
It was basically used to provide a setting for a special type of court entertainment - [[the masque]] which was a mixture of ball, amateur theatre and fancy dress party. The Banqueting House was used to demonstrate the royal splendors and was created as a synthesis of the arts which united architecture, music, performance and painting.


== Important events ==

Besides the function as a great entertainment hall other important events took place at and in the Banqueting House.
In 1649 [[Charles I]] was beheaded in front of the Banqueting House. After Charles' death Whitehall Palace remained empty for several years until [[Oliver Cromwell]] started to use it again in 1654. After his death it again remained deserted until 1660 - the beginning of the [[Restoration]] period. Banqueting House again was used as a ceremonial chamber of the court. 
One of the last important ceremonies took place in 1689 when the Crown was offered to the Prince and Princess of Orange who later became King [[William III]] and Queen [[Mary II]]. After 1689 it lost its importance to the court.


== The ceiling ==

The most famous part of the Banqueting House is the ceiling. The canvasses one can find there were painted by [[Peter Paul Rubens]], a famous Flemish artist of the 17th century. After Rubens finished painting these canvasses in his studio in Antwerp they were shipped to London in 1636 and finally placed in the Banqueting House in 1636. 


In 1893 the Banqueting House was given to the nation by [[Queen Victoria]] as a museum.


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Sources:

http://www.hrp.org.uk/BanquetingHouse/stories.aspx

Parry, Graham (1981): ''Golden Age Restor'd: Culture of the Stuart Court (1603-42)''. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

Benevolo, Leonardo (2002): ''Architecture of the Renaissance''. Facsimile edition. Routledge Chapman & Hall.