*JONES, Bic°, an eminent architect, was the son of Ignatius Jones, a clothworker, and was born in London about the year 1572. • At an early age he became appren tice to a joiner ; the nature of whose work required some knowledge of drawing. In this situation young Jones ac quired great skill in the art of design, and particularly in landscape painting ; and his eminence in this respect was such as to attract the notice of the Earls of Arundel and Pembroke. The last of these noblemen, who was a great patron of the fine arts, was at the expence of sending Jones to Italy, for the purpose of obtaining a more perfect ac quaintance with landscape painting.
When he was at Venice studying the works of Palladio, from which he contracted a particular fondness for archi tecture, he was sent for by Christian IV. king of Denmark, who gave him the honourable appointment of architect ge neral. When the Danish king paid a visit to his sister the queen of James I. of England, Mr. Jones returned in his train ; and having expressed a desire to remain in his na tive country, he was appointed architect to the queen of England. In the same capacity he served Prince Henry ; and he was rewarded for his diligence by the reversion of the surveyorship general of his majesty's works.
Upon the death of Prince Henry in 1616, Mr. Jones re visited Italy for the purpose of prosecuting his professional studies. On his return he undertook the duties of the sur veyor general ; but finding that the Board of Works had in curred a debt of several thousand pounds under his prede cessors, he not only offered to serve without any salary, but persuaded also the comptroller and paymaster to do the same till all the debt was liquidated.
In the year 1620, when the king was on a visit at Wil :on, the seat of the Earl of Pembroke, his attention was di rected to the magnificent druidical monument of Stone henge, in the neighbourhood of Wilton. lie engaged Mr. Jones to investigate the origin of this remarkable piece of antiquity, who immediately took accurate measurements of the whole, and carefully examined its foundation in order to trace its original form. From this investigation Mr.
Jones concluded, that it was originally a Roman temple, dedicated to Ccelus, and built in the Tuscan order, between the time of Agricola and that of Constantine the Great. Mr. Jones presented this account to the king in 1620; and in the same year he was appointed one of the commission ers for repairing St. Paul's cathedral.
Having given designs for the banqueting-house at White hall, which was intended for the use of foreign ambassa dors, he was now employed in executing it. It appears to have been begun in 1619, and finished in two years. In 1633 he began the repairs upon St. Paul's, and the design and execution of the work were confided wholly to himself. He gave uniformity to the body of the building from the steeple to the west end, and he added a tine portico, which, though Mr. Walpole has censured it as incongruous with the ancient building, has been highly admired by compe tent judges.
The talents of Inigo Jones svere likewise displayed in his invention of machinery, scenes, ornaments, and dresses for masks and interludes, which were then in great repute. In 1614, he had a quarrel with Ben Jonson, the poet laureat, who ridiculed him in his comedy of Bartholomew Fair, under the character of Lanthern Featherhead, a hobby horse seller. Jonson again attacked him in 1635, in a coarse satire, entitled An Expostulation with Inigo Junes. These attacks upon our author were highly disapproved of at Court, as appears from a letter from Howell to Jonson, where he remarks, " I heard you censured lately at Court, that you have lighted too foul upon Sir Inigo, and that you write with a porcupine's quill dipped with too much gall." As this friendly hint, however, had no effect upon Jonson, Howell sent him a second letter, in which he informs him, that, in consequence of his usage of Sir Inigo, " he had lost some ground at Court ; the king, who had so great a judg ment in poetry (as in all other things else) not being pleased therewith." This second expostulation induced Jonson to suppress his satire. It has since, hon ever, been printed in the edition cf his works which appeared in 1756.