Hugh May

Hugh May

Hugh May (* 1621 ; † February 21, 1684 ) was an English architect who worked under Charles II during the Stuart Restoration . May was thus active as an architect in a period between the first introduction of Palladianism in England by Inigo Jones and the heyday of the English Baroque under John Vanbrugh and Nicholas Hawksmoor . His own work was influenced by the work of Inigo Jones as well as the classicist Dutch architecture.

Only a few buildings by May have survived to this day. These include Eltham Lodge as well as the Eastern Front, stables and the chapel of Cornbury House. Nevertheless, his work is considered influential and significant for the development of architecture in England and Scotland. Together with his contemporary Richard Pratt , May introduced an Anglo-Dutch architectural style that was widely imitated.

Life

Hugh May was the seventh son of John May from the village of Mid Lavant, West Sussex and his wife Elizabeth Hill. He was baptized on October 2, 1621; his date of birth, other than the day of his baptism, is unknown.

The May family was loyal to the king: Hugh May was among other things cousin of Baptist May , the private treasurer of the English king Charles II. Clinging to his loyalty to the English king, Hugh May spent the years during Oliver Cromwell's Commonwealth in the service of the Duke of Buckingham . During this time May took care, among other things, that works of art were brought from the Duke's London palace to the Netherlands, where the Duke of Buckingham lived in exile. May got to know contemporary Dutch architecture here. This was characterized by simple but elegant brick buildings, such as those designed by the Dutch architects Jacob van Campen and Pieter Post . During this time May befriended the court painter Peter Lely and the two of them spent some time in 1656 at the court of Charles II, who was also living in exile. May's circle of friends also included Samuel Pepys , who called May a witty and brilliant man, as well as Roger North and John Evelyn , who May helped with the translation of Roland Fréart's writings on architectural theory. No designs or blueprints have survived from Hugh May and it is possible that he relied on draftsmen for his work .

Hugh May died at the age of 63 and is buried in the church in the village of Mid Lavant.

Buildings

After Charles II returned to England, May was rewarded for his loyalty on June 29 with the appointment of Paymaster of the Office of Works . The so-called Office of Works was responsible for all construction work on the royal palaces and residences. Initially, however, he did not receive orders for the planning and construction of buildings from the English king, but from people he had met at the royal court. His first building was Eltham Lodge , Kent (1663-1664) for the Baronet John Shaw. The brick building was clearly influenced by Dutch architecture. Cornbury House , Oxfordshire (1663–1668) was built in a similar style, commissioned by Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon . May's best-known building was Berkeley House on London's Piccadilly (1664-1666, demolished 1733), which he built on behalf of Lord Berkeley . This house, which with its square colonnades took up elements of Palladionism, was copied several times by other architects. For the Earl of Essex, May added wings to the Cassiobury country estate , Hertfordshire (1674, demolished 1922) and redesigned part of the interior. May first worked with Grinling Gibbons , who is still considered the most important English sculptor to this day. May was also the architect of the original Burlington House , built for the poet John Denham . What is certain is that he advised the Earl of Burlington after he bought the house in 1667.

All of May's buildings were based on contemporary Dutch classicism, the most prominent example of which is the Mauritshuis (1636–1641). He introduced a rational, but classically elegant house type in England. His style, which was simpler than that of the English architects Jones or Pratt, was often copied. Examples are Melton Constable , Norfolk (1665) and Ramsbury Manor , Wiltshire (1681–1686). Mays and Pratt's further development of the architectural style of Inigo Jones in turn influenced their contemporary colleague Christopher Wren and spread through the buildings of William Bruce to Scotland.

St George's Hall, Windsor Castle, 1819

Royal Chapel, Windsor Castle, in 1819

Rebuilding London

After the Great Fire of London in September 1666, Hugh May was one of three people named by Charles II as a member of a commission charged with building the city. The other two appointees were Roger Pratt and Christopher Wren. In total, the commission consisted of six people, the other three were representatives of the City of London : Robert Hooke, curator of the Royal Society , and two men with local knowledge, Edward Jerman (around 1605–1668) and Peter Mills, the city surveyor . May's role in this reconstruction, however, remained relatively limited.

Rebuilding of Windsor Castle

In June 1668, May was promoted to controller of the Office of Works and appointed to the position of clerk at the Court of Common Pleas . The latter was a court of law that tried civil cases. In November 1673, the renovation of Windsor Castle was commissioned. Together with Lely, May played a major role in the fact that Grinling Gibbons was commissioned to carry out the carvings for the redesign of the rooms.

During the renovation of Windsor Castle, May replaced the original apartments from the time of the Plantagenets on the north terrace with the cube-shaped star building . These rooms are decorated with ceiling paintings by Antonio Verrio and carvings by Grinling Gibbons. The king also purchased tapestries and paintings to furnish the rooms. These works of art formed the basis for today's royal collection, the Royal Collection . Three of the rooms have remained largely unchanged: the queen's lounge and audience room, both designed for the wife of Charles II, Catherine of Braganza , and the king's dining room. Both the ceiling paintings by Verrio and the wall paneling by Gibbons have been preserved in these rooms. Originally there were twenty rooms with this equipment. Some of Gibbon's work was saved when changes were made as a result of alterations or restorations. In the 19th century, these carvings were then integrated into the new interior of the throne room of the Order of the Garter and into the water look chamber. The largest room, called St. George's Hall, was modified in 1826 when Jeffry Wyatville rebuilt the rooms of Windsor Castle. However, St. George's Hall served as the model for Christopher Wren's Great Hall of the Palace of Placentia .

Single receipts

1. ↑ ^{a b} Summerson, p. 175
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Colvin, pp. 646-648.
3. ↑ ^{a b} Summerson, p 174
4. ↑ Colvin, pp. 172 & -176
5. ↑ Stephen Inwood: A History of London , p. 246.
6. ^ Summerson, p. 187

literature

• John Summerson: Architecture in the United Kingdom, 1530-1830 . Yale University Press. 1993, ISBN 978-0-300-05886-4 .
• Howard Colvin: A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600-1840 . Yale University Press. 1995.