Matthew Brettingham the Younger

Matthew Brettingham the Younger ( 1725 - March 18, 1803 in Norwich ) was a British architect and art agent.

Matthew Brettingham the Younger, eldest son of the architect Matthew Brettingham the Elder (1699–1769), learned the architectural trade from his father. He spent 1747 to 1754 in Rome , where he associated with numerous British nobles on their Grand Tour and acted as an art agent, in particular for the collection of Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester in the Holkham Hall built by his father and for William Legge, 2nd Earl of Dartmouth . He also tried to get molds for plaster casts of ancient works of art and to sell them to England. In April 1748 he took the architects James Stuart and Nicholas Revett and the painter Gavin Hamilton on a trip to Naples to study the ancient monuments . He was also involved in the plans of Stuart and Revett for a research trip to take up the ancient buildings of Athens , but then did not take part in the trip. In 1751 Brettingham lived in the Palazzo Zuccari in Rome with Joshua Reynolds , Thomas Patch , Joseph Wilton and other artists.

After his return to England in 1754, Brettingham worked for a number of years in his father's architectural office, particularly in the construction of Holkham Hall . He acquired ancient statues for Charles Wyndham, 2nd Earl of Egremont , for his collection in Petworth House . In 1761 he traveled with Wyndham, at that time Foreign Minister, to the peace negotiations with France in Augsburg . In 1769 he was appointed "President of the Board of Green Cloth " by Lord North , later as " Deputy collector of the Cinque Port duties ", two financially very lucrative positions.

Brettingham's income enabled him not to have to live from his profession as an architect. He was only active in a few buildings, including the conversion of Charlton Park in Wiltshire for Henry Howard, 12th Earl of Suffolk (1772–76) and the conversion of Petworth House (1774–76). More significant than his role as an architect was his role as an art agent and in spreading classicist taste in Britain.

literature

• Howard Colvin : A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600-1804 . 3. Edition. Yale University Press, New Haven / London 1995, ISBN 0-300-06091-2 , pp. 157-158.
• Richard Riddell: Brettingham, Matthew, the younger. In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Harrison (Eds.): Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , from the earliest times to the year 2000 (ODNB). Volume 7: Box-Browell. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861357-1 , ( oxforddnb.com license required ), as of 2004