Salons in the Queen's House: Architectures of Empire

Architectures of Empire: The Queen’s House and Inigo Jones’s legacy 

The Queen’s House in Greenwich is among the first buildings in a Palladian style to be designed in Britain. Inigo Jones’s design for the house was inspired by Italian Renaissance architecture, in particular the work of Andrea Palladio (1508-1580). In 1613-14, Jones had visited Italy and studied Palladio’s villas, celebrated for their symmetrical proportions and balanced layouts.  

Completed in the late 1630s, the Queen’s House set a precedent for a ‘revolution’ in architectural history and design in Britain and overseas. Jones’s design of the Queen's House has significantly influenced the development of British architecture from colonial times to the present day. Over the centuries, the geometrical symmetry and calculated proportions of the Queen’s House were adopted and re-adapted according to different spaces, climates, social and human experiences in the British-owned colonies overseas. 

By focusing on the migration of Palladian architecture across time and space, this talk by Assistant Curator Vittoria Cervini will investigate and question how early modern architecture has visualised and responded to complex histories of empire and resistance, whose legacy still shapes our modern world. 

This talk includes exclusive access to the Queen’s House Loggia. Please note that, for security reasons, children under the age of 12 cannot access the Loggia.  

The tour passes through several galleries located on different floors of the House. Step-free access is available via lift and access ramps. 

About the speaker 

Vittoria Cervini is Assistant Curator of Art at Royal Museums Greenwich, where she is currently researching the history of female artistic and architectural patronage of the Queen’s House. She earned a BA (Hons) and MA in History of Art at the Courtauld Institute of Art, specialising in the history of making and collecting art in Northern European countries.