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Vitruvius Britannicus, or The British Architect, Volume I

Print
1715 (made)
Artist/Maker
Colen Campbell (artist)
Place of origin
Britain (made)
London (published)

Engraving print on paper

Object details

Categories
Prints
Architecture
Object type
Print
TitleVitruvius Britannicus, or The British Architect, Volume I (series title)
Materials and techniques
printer's ink, paper, engraving
Printer's Ink
Paper
Engraving
Brief description
From Vitruvius Britannicus by Colen Campbell: Wanstead House, Essex. Plate 22 of Volume I. Engraving, London, 1715
Physical description
Engraving print on paper
Dimensions
  • Height: 9.875in (Note: Taken from Departmental Circulation Register 1967)
  • Weight: 14.875in (Note: Taken from Departmental Circulation Register 1967)
Marks and inscriptions
Ca: Campbell Inv: et Delin. (Lettered)
Gallery label
Anonymous engraver after Colen
Campbell (1676-1729)
First design for the west elevation of
Wanstead House, Essex.
Etching and engraving from Vitruvius
Britannicus, Vol I, 1717

Wanstead, designed by Colen Campbell from
1713 and built by 1715 for Sir Richard Child
was the purest, most classical house of its day
and was also one of the biggest. Campbell
deliberately put this print of it near the start
of Vitruvius Britannicus, just after the prints
of Inigo Jones's and John Webb's buildings
(also shown in this exhibition). He evidently
intended to present the house as an exemplar
of what new architecture should be, that is
neo-Palladian. Espcially important were the
horizontal emphasis and detail of the facade
and the columned portico, matched inside by
a temple-like saloon of the same dimensions.
When built, the block was made shorter, and
lower symmetrical wings added. Close to
London, Wanstead quickly became a goal for
sightseers and its design was soon being
imitated all over England. It was demolished
in 1824, althought the park survives.

Circ.86-1967
Credit line
Acquired from B. Weinreb Ltd., London in 1967.
Place depicted
Wanstead Park
Bibliographic reference
Taken from Departmental Circulation Register 1967
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
CIRC.86-1967

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Record createdJune 30, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1038653/vitruvius-britannicus-or-the-british-print-colen-campbell/
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