Page "Chatsworth House" Paragraph 10

The south and east fronts were built under the order of William Talman and were complete by 1696.

The 1st Duke's Chatsworth was a key building in the development of English Baroque architecture.

According to the architectural historian Sir John Summerson, " It inaugurates an artistic revolution which is the counterpart of the political revolution in which the Earl was so prominent a leader.

" The design of the south front was revolutionary for an English house, with no attics or hipped roof, but instead two main stories supported by a rusticated basement.

The facade is dramatic and sculptural with ionic pilasters and a heavy entablature and balustrade.

The existing heavy and angular stone stairs from the first floor down to the garden are a 19th century replacement of an elegant curved double staircase.

The east front is the quietest of the four on the main block.

Like the south front it is unusual in that it has an even number of bays and no centrepiece.

The emphasis is placed on the end bays, each highlighted by double pairs of pilasters, of which the inner pairs project outwards.