Banqueting House, Whitehall

Banqueting House, Whitehall

Encyclopedia

Tutorials

Encyclopedia

Dictionary

Directory

Email this to a friend Banqueting House, Whitehall

Banqueting House, Whitehall

The Banqueting House is the only remaining component of Whitehall Palace, and is found at the Trafalgar Square end of Whitehall, London. It is a Grade I listed building.^[1]

History
Gallery
See also
External links
References

Notes
Bibliography

History

Banqueting House ceiling painted by Sir Peter Paul Rubens

It is the grandest and most familiar survival of the architectural genre of banqueting house. Formerly part of the Palace of Whitehall, it was designed by Inigo Jones in 1619 and completed in 1622 with assistance from John Webb. In 1649 King Charles I of England was executed on a scaffold in front of the building.

Inside the building there is a single two-story double-cube room which is decorated with paintings by Sir Peter Paul Rubens that were commissioned by Charles I in 1635 to fill the panelling of the ceiling. Rubens's painting depicts the Apotheosis of James I. The Banqueting House introduced a refined Italianate Renaissance style that was unparalleled in Jacobean England, where Renaissance motives were still filtered through the engravings of Flemish Mannerist designers. The roof is all but flat and the roofline is a balustrade. On the street facade all the elements of two orders of engaged columns, Corinthian over Ionic, above a high rusticated basement, are locked together in a harmonious whole.

The Banqueting House was probably planned as part of a grand new Palace of Whitehall, but the tensions that eventually led to the Civil War intervened. In 1685 the Banqueting House became the first building in England to use crown glass in its windows. Later, in the fire that destroyed the old Whitehall Palace the isolated position of the Banqueting Hall preserved it from the flames.

The Undercroft was originally designed as a drinking den for James I and a place where he could escape the rigours of public life. The King would come here to savour a glass of wine from his extensive cellars, or simply enjoy some private time with his favourite courtiers.