THE BANQUETING HOUSE

The Banqueting House on Whitehall is the greatest surviving work of Inigo Jones, drenched in memories of the Stuart court of the early 17th century. The Stuarts were not distinguished for their administrative competence but Charles I loved the arts, particularly the esoteric theatrical genre known as the masque.

The Banqueting House, replacing another that had burnt down in 1619, was constructed for the staging of masques. Jones created a festive structure and Charles I commissioned a ceiling for the main space from the artist Rubens.

The King’s hopes of rebuilding Whitehall Palace completely were dashed by the chaotic finances of his regime, but the fragment of his vision that we have in the Banqueting House is a marvel.

The object of the masque was to demonstrate the virtues of the monarch. With its arcane symbolism, it reflected the court’s growing insularity.

Symbolism would also lie heavy over the Banqueting House when, in 1649, Charles I was marched there to kneel before the executioner’s block. It took only one blow for the axe to do its job.