272 



WILLIAM KENT 



in which, by general consent, he achieved no distinction at any 

 rate no enviable distinction. Sir Robert Walpole's opinion of 

 his powers in this direction has already been indicated (p. 256). 

 During his stay in Rome he became acquainted with Lord 

 Burlington, who, according to Horace Walpole, " discovered the 

 rich vein of genius that had been hid from the artist himself." 

 He came back to England with his new patron, and thence- 

 forward his success was assured. An apartment was assigned 

 to him in Burlington House as long as he lived, and on his death 



FIG. 188. Holkham Hall, Norfolk, 1734. Plan of the Principal Floor. 



" he was buried in a very handsome manner in Lord Burlington's 

 vault at Chiswick." l 



Endowed with natural abilities above the average, which had 

 been cultivated during nine years in Italy, and fortified by the 

 most powerful patronage of the age, it is no wonder that Kent 

 was able to cut a good figure in the world of art. He became 

 the fashionable decorator of the time in many directions, especi- 

 ally in relation to great houses and their surroundings. Walpole 

 had a poor opinion of him as a painter, admired him as an 

 architect, and praised him highly as a garden designer. To us 

 in the present day he appears as a man of considerable ability 

 and culture, who seldom rose above mediocrity, especially in his 

 architecture, which, however sound and correct, is wanting in 



1 Walpole, " Anecdotes." 



