DEATH OF INIGO JONES 



01 



FIG. 35. The Water-Gate of York House, London. 



he dispose of the residue of his estate. He mentions no collec- 

 tion of drawings (as did John Webb) nor any books. On the 

 face of it he can hardly be considered a wealthy man at his 

 death. A really exhaustive account of his life has yet to be 

 written ; one which shall be free from the undemonstrable 

 attribution of' work to him ; free from baseless eulogy on the 

 one hand and detraction on the other ; one which shall fairly 

 balance tradition and evidence ; which shall take account of him 

 as an artist and scene painter, as a surveyor dealing from day 

 to day with prosaic details, and as an architectural designer. 

 It has been no part of the present purpose to enter minutely 

 into these particulars ; it was outside the scope of this work to 

 marshal all the evidence for or against his authorship of every 

 building with which he has been credited. The aim has been 

 to indicate the general influence he had upon English archi- 

 tecture, particularly in respect of house design. 



He was the most notable figure that had hitherto appeared 

 upon the stage of English architecture, the most refined and 

 scholarly, with an exquisite sense of proportion. He was at 

 heart an artist, just as Wren was at heart a man of science. 



