290 The History of Longleat. 
Having described to you in a few words the kind of house that 
prevailed in England, down to the time of Sir John Thynne, and 
having shown that he was one of the first to adopt the new fashion, 
we have now to answer, if possible, the question, who was the 
architect employed by him? The tradition before alluded to, is, 
that it was built from the design of John of Padua. That has been 
the constant belief, and if nothing can be produced to the contrary, 
there is every reason for adopting it. In favour of it we certainly 
have these facts; Holbein the painter, and John of Padua are the 
two foreigners generally understood to have been employed by 
Henry 8th, in introducing the new kind of architecture. Of 
Holbein’s taste in that direction, we have a specimen in Wiltshire, 
in the very pretty Porch, formerly attached to the house, but now 
erected apart in the gardens at Wilton. But the misfortune is, 
that about this John of Padua no one is able to tell us anything at 
all. To use a term now growing much into use, John of Padua is 
a Myth. Who he really was, what his family name was, whether 
he was born or only educated at Padua, what his works were before 
he came to England, we have, I believe, not a morsel of information. 
The little that is at present known upon the subject is merely this, 
that a person of the name was sent for by Henry, was appointed on 
his arrival in 1544 to an office, the very title of which was entirely 
novel, “the deviser of his Majesty’s buildings,” and, that by a deed 
dated in that year, the King assigned to him a certain daily stipend 
for his services. About three years afterwards, (1547,) Henry died. 
But the pension was renewed under Edward VI., by the Duke of 
Somerset, Protector, who took the Italian by the hand. In 1549, 
the Duke employed him to design his great palace, in the Strand, 
called Somerset House; not the present building of that name, but 
the original one. Now old Somerset House, built by John of Padua, 
is always described as having abounded in ornaments of Roman 
architecture, and as having greatly resembled Longleat.! This 
1 Of the original Somerset House, as left by the Protector, (and before the 
alterations made by Inigo Jones, when preparing it as a residence for Queen 
Henrietta Maria,) there is an engraying, but not a very effective one, in 
Wilkinson’s ‘‘ Londina Illustrata.” 
