What do you think?
Rate this book
Enlightened Eclecticism: The Grand Design of the 1st Duke and Duchess of Northumberland
A beautifully illustrated exploration of opulent tastes and the power of patronage in 18th-century Britain
The central decades of the eighteenth century in Britain were crucial to the history of European taste and design. One of the period’s most important campaigns of patronage and collecting was that of the 1st Duke and Duchess of Sir Hugh Smithson (1712–86) and Lady Elizabeth Seymour Percy (1716–76). This book examines four houses they refurbished in eclectic architectural styles—Stanwick Hall, Northumberland House, Syon House, and Alnwick Castle—alongside the innumerable objects they collected, their funerary monuments, and their persistent engagement in Georgian London’s public sphere. Over the years, their commissions embraced or pioneered styles as varied as Palladianism, rococo, neoclassicism, and Gothic revival. Patrons of many artists and architects, they are revealed, particularly, as the greatest supporters of Robert Adam. In every instance, minute details contributed to large-scale projects expressing the Northumberlands’ various aesthetic and cultural allegiances. Their development sheds light on the eclectic taste of Georgian Britain, the emergence of neoclassicism and historicism, and the cultures of the Grand Tour and the Enlightenment.
Distributed for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art
The central decades of the eighteenth century in Britain were crucial to the history of European taste and design. One of the period’s most important campaigns of patronage and collecting was that of the 1st Duke and Duchess of Sir Hugh Smithson (1712–86) and Lady Elizabeth Seymour Percy (1716–76). This book examines four houses they refurbished in eclectic architectural styles—Stanwick Hall, Northumberland House, Syon House, and Alnwick Castle—alongside the innumerable objects they collected, their funerary monuments, and their persistent engagement in Georgian London’s public sphere. Over the years, their commissions embraced or pioneered styles as varied as Palladianism, rococo, neoclassicism, and Gothic revival. Patrons of many artists and architects, they are revealed, particularly, as the greatest supporters of Robert Adam. In every instance, minute details contributed to large-scale projects expressing the Northumberlands’ various aesthetic and cultural allegiances. Their development sheds light on the eclectic taste of Georgian Britain, the emergence of neoclassicism and historicism, and the cultures of the Grand Tour and the Enlightenment.
Distributed for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art
400 pages, Hardcover
Published July 27, 2021
10 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
May 19, 2023
True scholarly works are difficult to review. I picked this up as part of my research into James Smithson, founding donor of the Smithsonian, after I visited one of his father's London homes, Syon House, and became intrigued by the possibility of a link between Smithson's bequest to found the Smithsonian and his father's interest in science, collecting, and patronage. Aymonimo charts the Northumberlands' tastemaking choices throughout the later 18th century through the lens of their public-facing private properties scattered across England, and he provides small but tantalizing clues that persuade me further that Smithson was influenced by the Duke.
That being said, this is a true scholarly study, which, while beautifully illustrated, is detailed to the point of impenetrability for the unindoctrinated (and I would count myself among them). The language of architecture and classical art is somewhat arcane to me, though I am at least passingly familiar with much of it, and it made for slow going and occasionally unclear passages. The other problem with a book that relies on images as heavily as this one does for clarity is that book layouts do not always lend themselves to images being located immediately adjacent to the relevant text, so there is always some flipping back and forth. In some ways this is a lot like an exhibit catalog for a museum show, except that the scholarly content is a book-length treatise rather than a collection of related, shorter essays.
I would probably give this a 3/5 stars if I weren't personally invested in Smithson and the Northumberlands, and a 4 otherwise. So, a 4-star rating it is.
That being said, this is a true scholarly study, which, while beautifully illustrated, is detailed to the point of impenetrability for the unindoctrinated (and I would count myself among them). The language of architecture and classical art is somewhat arcane to me, though I am at least passingly familiar with much of it, and it made for slow going and occasionally unclear passages. The other problem with a book that relies on images as heavily as this one does for clarity is that book layouts do not always lend themselves to images being located immediately adjacent to the relevant text, so there is always some flipping back and forth. In some ways this is a lot like an exhibit catalog for a museum show, except that the scholarly content is a book-length treatise rather than a collection of related, shorter essays.
I would probably give this a 3/5 stars if I weren't personally invested in Smithson and the Northumberlands, and a 4 otherwise. So, a 4-star rating it is.
Displaying 1 of 1 review