as soon as defined as 'England's Apollo' James Brydges, first Duke of Chandos (1674-1744) used to be a very good client of the humanities through the first half the eighteenth century. Having got nice wealth and impression as Paymaster-General of Queen Anne's forces in another country, Chandos commissioned paintings from best artists, architects, poets and composers together with Godfrey Kneller, William Talman, Sir John Vanbrugh, Sir James Thornhill, John homosexual and George Frederick Handel. regardless of his institutions with such well known figures, Chandos quickly won a name for tasteless extravagance. This acceptance used to be now not helped through the ebook in 1731 of Alexander Pope's poem 'Of style' which was once greatly considered as a satire upon Chandos and Cannons, the hot condo he was once construction close to Edgware. The poem destroyed Chandos's attractiveness as a buyer of the humanities and ensured that he used to be remembered as a guy missing in flavor. but, as this e-book exhibits, this sort of judgement is evidently unfair whilst the Duke's patronage is taken into account in additional intensity and understood in the inventive context of his age. via investigating the patronage and collections of the Duke, via an exam of documentary resources and modern bills, it really is attainable to color a truly assorted photograph of the guy. instead of the epitome of undesirable style defined via his enemies, it really is transparent that Chandos used to be an enlightened buyer who embraced new rules, and strove to set up a flavor for the Palladian in England, which used to be to outline the Georgian era.