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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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William Kent
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(c.1685–1748) Painter, architect, furniture designer and landscape gardener. Painting was his first profession (the murals at *Kensington Palace are his main work in this field). While studying in Italy (1709–19) he met Lord *Burlington, who became his life-long patron and turned his interests towards architecture in the Palladian style. One of his earliest projects with Burlington was *Chiswick House, where he was responsible for the interior decoration and the garden.
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His skill in these two fields is best seen in the interiors of *Houghton Hall and *Holkham Hall and in the revolutionary landscape garden at *Stowe. He was cheerfully eclectic in style and his furniture is much more heavily baroque than true Palladian principles should allow. In the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich there is a state barge designed by him, lavishly ornamented and gilded.
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