Interior view
by BOYLE, Richard, 3rd Earl of Burlington, Photo
Lord Burlington created the most complex example of Palladian architecture. Chiswick House, built between 1723 and 1729, is close to the villas of the Veneto in Italy. The ground plan, a square containing a central octagon, recalls Palladio’s Villa Rotonda. A suite of interconnecting geometric spaces surround the domed central hall; they extend into apses with statues in the niches.
The interior was dictated mainly by the precepts of Inigo Jones. The rooms are all interconnecting, and each had clearly defined functions which were reflected in the furnishings and paintings. Reception room, library, galleries , and the “tribunal” in the centre of the upper storey point to the mainly ceremonial nature of the villa , nevertheless, the private rooms, among them the bedroom and the red closet, are extremely luxurious, with paintings, chandeliers, velvet, and rare woods.
The picture shows the gallery.