Sexualising Classical Architecture in 17th Century England

Sik, Daniel [UCL]

English architectural historians frequently typify the 17th century as a period of stylistic change from chivalric eclecticism to palladian neoclassicism. Less commonly discussed are the reactions against this trend, some of which are lodged on the grounds of sexual morality. This literary topos is saturated with double-entendres and visual puns. In Wotton’s 1624 treatise on architecture, the Corinthian order is likened to a seductive courtesan ‘lasciviously decked;’ and the use of classical ornaments compared to the beauty of a ‘light woman’ or whore. In dramatic works, italianate balconies are compared to the jutting breasts being bared to passers-by, and the new palladian houses are used like dildoes- one character exclaiming “...you are delighting yourselfe with these new erections!” The amusing metaphors are underpinned by ethical anxieties; the closeness of the luxurious, libidinous and lascivious, the overlap between the sumptuous and the vulgar, all contribute to virile and virulent reactionary polemic.