James Stuart (architect)

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James Stuart in a miniature from circa 1788
The Antiquities of Athens Volume 1, 1762
The temple at Ilissos in Athens, engraving from The Antiquities of Athens Volume 1, 1762

James Stuart , known as James "Athenian" Stuart, (* 1713 in London -Ludgate; † February 2, 1788 in London) was a British painter , architect and scholar of classical studies , best known for his role in the spread of classicism .

life and work

Stuart was the son of a Scottish sailor. After the untimely death of his father he became an apprentice in the workshop of the fan painter Lewis Goupy . He also studied mathematics, geometry and anatomy and learned Latin and ancient Greek. In 1741/1742 he traveled to Italy in order to continue his artistic education and worked there in Rome as a “ cicerone ” (travel guide) and painter and dealt with the history of art and architecture. He continued his education in Rome and was in contact with numerous antiquarians and artists. Here he carried out his first important work, the drawing of the obelisk in the Piazza Montecitorio for the work of Angelo Maria Bandini De obelisco Caesaris Augusti (1750). In Rome he also met Nicholas Revett (1720-1804), a young British nobleman on his Grand Tour . In April 1748 he went on a trip to study the ancient remains in Naples with the architect and art agent Matthew Brettingham and the painter Gavin Hamilton .

On this trip, Stuart and Revett drew up a plan for a project to measure the ancient buildings in Athens and Attica based on the model of the Édifices antiques de Rome (1692) by the French architect Antoine Desgodetz (1653–1728). In this they were encouraged by the archaeologists James Dawkins (1722–1757), Robert Wood (1717–1771) and John Bouverie (1723–1750), whom they met in Rome in 1749 while preparing for their study trip to the Eastern Mediterranean. They published Proposals for Publishing an Accurate Description of the Antiquities of Athens in 1748 . Through their contacts to the Society of Dilettanti , Stuart was elected member in 1751, they managed to finance their trip on behalf of the Society.

Stuart and Revett left Rome in 1750. After a stay in Venice and a detour to Pula and the Dalmatian coast, they traveled from Venice to Athens, where they arrived in March 1751. Here they made exact recordings of the ancient ruins of Athens and its surroundings, with Revett being responsible for the exact measurements and the plan drawings of the buildings, Stuart for the vedute and the text. From 1753 they traveled to large parts of Greece and the coast of Asia Minor .

Immediately after their return to London in spring 1755, Stuart and Revett began to work on their work The Antiquities of Athens , the first volume of which appeared in 1762/1763, but Revett left the project before the first volume appeared. The show was made possible by more than 500 subscribers . His illustrations were among the first to publicize the ancient structures of Greece in detailed photographs. The aim of the work was on the one hand to be a collection of models for artists, architects and the public, and on the other hand to provide a comprehensive architectural theory. It was welcomed by scholars, scholars and wealthy audiences alike. However, its effect was initially delayed by the long publication time, the high price and the low circulation. It received its great importance and influential effect through the new editions and translations of the 19th century. The work contributed significantly to the widespread dissemination of the Greek Revival and Classicism as the dominant architectural form of the 19th century.

In England, James Stuart was mainly active as an artist, as an architect, interior designer (furniture design, metalwork) and medalist . He was involved in the construction or remodeling and expansion of numerous country and town houses and parks, such as Shugborough Hall , Hagley Hall , Lichfield House, Mount Stewart , Nuneham House and Wentworth Woodhouse , Montague House and Spencer House in London, as well as the Chapel of the Old Royal Naval College .

Especially in the last years of his life, Stuart was very unreliable and alcoholic when it came to scheduling issues and building budgets. Still, he died a famous man and wealthy property owner in London.

In April 1758 he was elected a member of the Royal Society , he was also a member of the Society of Antiquaries .

Publications

literature

Web links

Commons : James Stuart  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ For the various editions and printing dates , abridged editions and translations of the work, see Eileen Harris: British Architectural Books and Writers 1556–1785 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1990, ISBN 0-521-38551-2 , pp. 448-450; Ulrike Steiner: The Beginnings of Archeology in Folio and Octave. Foreign-language antique publications and travelogues in German editions . Franz Philipp Rutzen, Ruhpolding 2005, ISBN 3-938646-02-0 , pp. 260-269.
personal data
SURNAME Stuart, James
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British painter and architect
DATE OF BIRTH 1713
PLACE OF BIRTH London -Ludgate
DATE OF DEATH February 2, 1788
Place of death London -Ludgate