Looking through the back-catalogue of architectural boxes and desks created by LINLEY for a wide variety of clients, you can clearly see the influence of Andrea Palladio, a man widely regarded as the most influential figure in the history of western architecture.
To co-incide with the quincentenary of his birth, and a major exhibition at the Royal Academy in London, David Linley talks about his personal ties to the Veneto, home of Palladio's finest designs, and how these continue to inspire the design of LINLEY. (Photographs of David Linley by Sebastian Pearson.)
Villa Cornaro
David's mother (Princess Margaret) introduced him to the region at a young age. She had visited the Veneto every year for over 40 years, and had once been close to buying Villa Cornaro (one of the five villas in the region considered as Palladio's finest works). You can see here a jewellery box that models the villas scale using columns of sycamore and nickel-plated brass Corinthian.
Palladio's signature style was formed when working on agricultural villas for the Venetian aristocracy. He consolidated the various stand-alone outbuildings of farms into a single impressive structure, arranged as a highly organized whole.
Dominated by a strong center and symmetrical side wings the Palladian villa configuration often consists of a central block raised on an elevated podium, accessed by grand steps and flanked by lower service wings.
Villa Emo
"Villa Emo was the first of Palladian's Villas that I saw. I clearly remember the day my father bought me here." Villa Emo was the inspiration for the Capitol building in Washington, and was also the subject of an ambitious desk. The gallery is a scale replica of the villa in walnut and satinwood with a macassar ebony roof.
Many of Palladio's clients were landowners who not only wanted impressive villas to demonstrate their financial and social status, but also to allow them to watch over their farms.
Although he had apprenticed as a stonecutter, the buildings he later designed were not dependent upon such expensive materials; many were brick covered with stucco.
Chiswick House
"It is re-assuring to know that, even if I am busy, I can indulge this passion closer to home. Britain has some fine examples of neo-Palladian villas, such as Chiswick house which is just a few miles away in the heart of West London."
While the original was designed by Lord Burlington and William Kent in 1729, more recently LINLEY were commissioned to create an architectural humidor in the likeness of Chiswick House, which is shown below.
Palladio's style became fashionable all over Europe, with Christopher Wren and Inigo Jones both employing the Palladian style. The style also became popular for the homes of English nobility, including Blenheim, Houghton Hall and Kedelston Hall.
Monticello
Indeed, the influence of the Palladian villa has spread far beyond Europe. When Thomas Jefferson was designing his home, Monticello, he was heavily influenced by the work of Palladio (in particular Villa Cornaro). In turn, Monticello is widely regarded as the source of the 'Federal' style of architecture which developed in the United States.
"The way that Palladio retained simple, clean geometric lines will continue to be a source of inspiration for all manner of designers for generations to come."
Another factor in the spread of Palladio's influence was the way in which he embraced the newly invented letterpress to set out rules others could follow and print his architectural treatise I Quattro Libri dell'Architettura (The Four Books of Architecture) in 1570.
Later, in the 18th century Venetian architect Giacomo Leoni published a four-volume work on Palladio and his architectural concepts.
