—s 
By the Rev. Canon J. EL. Jackson, F.S.A. 25 
Selvatico, nothing is known, either as to his having been an architect, 
or of his having visited England, or his knowledge of music, a chief 
service for which, according to the letters patent, our “J ohn de 
Padua” was paid. 
Our choice, then, seems rather to lie between the other two persons 
of the same name and family : John Padovani, of Verona, the maker 
of sun-dials, &c., and player on the organ; but of whose skill in 
architecture we know nothing: and John Maria Padovani, of Venice, 
who was architect enough to embellish with sculptured ornaments, 
and probably to build a royal mausoleum in Poland ; and who was 
a very celebrated musical composer, especially of “ ballate ” and 
entertainments of a lighter sort, suited to amuse a court, 
The reader is at full liberty to choose which of the two he thinks 
the more likely to have been our “ John of Padua.” He will, perhaps, 
be glad to shelter himself under Mr. Daines Barrington’s opinion : 
viz., “That John of Padua had most likely come from Italy as a 
performer on some instrument, and by accident only was employed 
by Henry VIII. as an architect.” 
II.—The Second point I proposed to deal with in this paper was, 
What probability is there that John of Padua—and this applies to 
either of the two Padovani above named—had anything to do with 
the building of Longleat? 
“Longleat” [says Mr. Digby Wyatt "] “scarcely answers one’s 
expectation of whata regularly-educated Italian architect’s work was 
likely to have been.” But this may easily be explained. Longleat 
was commenced just at the time when Classical feelings began to 
revive in England. English architects went to Italy to study 
Classical style: and Longleat appears to be one of the earliest, if 
not the very earliest, example of a house designed, either by an 
Ttalian desirous of combining Italian with English, or, vice versd, 
an Englishman combining English with Italian, architecture, The 
large windows of many lights, with mullions and transoms, cannot 
be called Italian, being very rarely to be met with there: whilst, on 
Dee 
1 In page 234 of the “ Essay, &c.,” above referred to. 
