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Architecture and Mathematics from Antiquity to the Future pp 197–216Cite as

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Coelum Britannicum: Inigo Jones and Symbolic Geometry

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Abstract

Inigo Jones’s conclusion that Stonehenge was a Roman circular temple in Tuscan order dedicated to Coelum, the god of the heavens, appeared in a posthumous publication (1655) by John Webb, and drew extensively from mythology, history, and astrology. Jones’s interpretation was an important part of his grand vision Coelum Britannicum, which drew a macro- and microcosm parallels between the heavens and Britain. For Jones, this symbolism presented a specific geometrical scheme and therefore turned immediately into an architectural form. It appeared in other designs by the architect and arguably in works by others under his influence. This paper will discuss the role of mathematics in architecture, as stated by Robert Recorde and John Dee among others, Jones’s written statements in this regards, other works by Jones, and court paintings by Peter Paul Rubens and Anthony Van Dyck.

Many of these monuments remain in the British islands, curious for their antiquity, or astonishing for the greatness of the work: enormous masses of rock, so poised as to be set in motion with the slightest touch, yet not to be pushed from their place by a very great power; … displaying a wild industry, and a strange mixture of ingenuity and rudeness. But they are all worthy of attention not only as such monuments often clear up the darkness and supply the defects of history, but as they lay open a noble field of speculation for those who study the changes which have happened in the manners, opinions, and sciences of men… Edmund Burke (1887: 188)

First published as: Rumiko Handa, “Coelum Brittanicum: Inigo Jones and Symbolic Geometry”. Pp. 109–126 in Nexus IV: Architecture and Mathematics, Kim Williams and Jose Francisco Rodrigues, eds. Fucecchio (Florence): Kim Williams Books, 2002.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    There are two modern facsimile reproductions of Jones’s The most notable Antiquity of Great Britain, vulgarly called Stone-Heng, on Salisbury Plain, Restored: of the 1655 edition (Jones 1972) and of the 1725 edition (Jones 1971). Although the 1655 edition was narrowly distributed, and the 1666 Great Fire destroyed the unsold copies, it was re-issued in 1725, together with Walter Charleton’s refuting account of 1662 and John Webb ’s rebuttal of 1665. The page numbers referred to in this article refer to Jones (1971).

  2. 2.

    These two individuals both have connections to Robert Fludd ; see Yates (1969): 64, Rykwert (1980).

  3. 3.

    The particular dated inscription has been considered by generations of scholars “not by Jones” or “by an Italian bookseller”. For the present author’s argument to affix the authorship to Jones, see Handa (2006).

  4. 4.

    For a list of Jones’s extant books, see Johnson (1997, Anderson 1993). For the provenance of the George Clark (1661–1736) collection which makes up the Worcester books, see Wilkinson (1926). See also Sayce (1970).

  5. 5.

    Taylor (1954) includes 582 individuals whose lives ranged from 1486 to 1768, and 628 printed books and manuscripts on mathematics and related subjects.

  6. 6.

    According to John Newman (1992: 33), the spelling mistake, came from the fact Jones did not know the Greek language. The annotation is in Vitruvius (1511: 121).

  7. 7.

    Johannes Rosinus (1551–1626) was Jones’s contemporary. Jones cited Book 2, Chap. 5 of Rosinus’s Antiquitatum Romanarum (1645).

  8. 8.

    Thomas Godwin (1587–1642) was another contemporary of Jones. His Romanae Historiae Anthologia. An English Exposition of the Roman Antiquities, wherein many Roman and English Offices are parallelled, and diverse obscure Phrases explained of 1614 was intended for the use in Abingdon school in Berkshire, where he was the schoolmaster, and was revised and reprinted a number of times, till the sixteenth edition in 1696. Jones cited its Book 1, Chap. 20.

  9. 9.

    Frances A. Yates (1969: 180) made a passing remark that Jones used the 1602 edition of Valeriano’s Hieroglyphica in Italian.

  10. 10.

    Letter from the Royal Collection to the present author.

  11. 11.

    Van Dyck ’s copy is in the National Gallery, London.

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Acknowledgments

The author gratefully acknowledges supports provided by the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Research Council. Research assistants have been made available through the University Undergraduate Creative Activities and Research program.

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  1. College of Architecture, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Room 237 Arch Hall West, Lincoln, NE, 68588-0107, USA

    Rumiko Handa

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Correspondence to Rumiko Handa .

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  1. Kim Williams Books, Torino, Italy

    Kim Williams

  2. School of Architecture and Built Environment, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia

    Michael J. Ostwald

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Handa, R. (2015). Coelum Britannicum: Inigo Jones and Symbolic Geometry. In: Williams, K., Ostwald, M. (eds) Architecture and Mathematics from Antiquity to the Future. Birkhäuser, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-00143-2_13

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