User:Daniel/Richard Boyle

Richard Boyle (1694 – 1753), the 3rd Earl of Burlington and 4th Earl of Cork, was called 'the Apollo of the Arts'. Born into a wealthy family, and inheriting his titles and estates at the age of ten, he took not one, but three Grand Tours to Europe. On his trips to Europe he further developed his already existing interest in Palladian architecture, visiting a great number of villas and other Rennaissance buildings.

After he returned from the continent, he stopped work on his baroque London residence, and employed a new architect, Colen Campbell, to finish the house in a neo-palladian style. While he was mostly client on his own house, he then more and more developed to become an architect himself, taking on major projects, such as schools and assembly rooms. However, as he decided to pay the construction of large parts of these public buildings from his own funds, he soon got into money problems, forcing him to sell substantial parts of his estate. However, mainly due to his influence, Neo-Palladian architecture became a major trend, and many new country houses were built in this style.

In the early 1710s, Georg Frideric Handel stayed at Burlington House for a time, where he wrote and then dedicated his operas Teseo and Amadigi di Gaula to the young Richard Boyle.

Besides being an architect, Boyle also was a member of both the House of Lords and the Privy council of King George I. In August 1715, he was also made lord high treasurer of Ireland.

Architectural projects (incomplete list)

Burlington House, Piccadilly, London (by Colen Campbell, minor contributions by Boyle)
Tottenham Park, Wiltshire
Westminster School, the Dormitory
Old Burlington Street, London
Belvedere Tower in Waldershare Park, Kent
Chiswick House Villa, Middlesex
Sevenoaks School, School House
Facade of the York Assembly Rooms
Castle Hill, Devonshire
Northwick Park, Gloucestershire
Kirby Hall, Yorkshire

Sources

Stephen, Leslie [Ed.]. The Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford: OUP, 1917.
Wikipedia. Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington. Accessed Tuesday, January 12th 2010.
Arnold, Dana [Ed.]. Belov'd by Ev'ry Muse. Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington & 4th Earl of Cork (1694-1753). London: Georgian, 1994.
Wittkower, Rudolf. Palladio and English Palladianism. London: Thames and Hudson, 1985.