Banqueting House at Whitehall

Banqueting House at Whitehall
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Banqueting House, Whitehall
Shown within Greater London
Banqueting House, Whitehall
Building
Architectural style	Palladian
Town	London
Country	England
Client	King James I
Coordinates	51°30′16″N 0°07′32″W / 51.5044, -0.1256Coordinates: 51°30′16″N 0°07′32″W / 51.5044, -0.1256
Construction
Started	1619
Completed	1622
Size	55 feet (17 m) wide, 55 feet (17 m) high, 110 feet (34 m) long
Cost	£15,618 14s
Design team
Architect	Inigo Jones, John Webb James Wyatt
Engineer	Nicholas Stone

"Banqueting House" redirects here. For banqueting houses in general, see Banqueting house.

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]

1 History
2 Gallery
3 See also
4 External links
5 References
- 5.1 Notes
- 5.2 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 rigors 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.