John Vanbrugh
![[[Godfrey Kneller]]'s [[kit-cat portrait]], held in the [[National Portrait Gallery, London]] ([http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/portrait.asp?Mkey=mw06470 NPG3231])](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/John_Vanbrugh.jpg)
Vanbrugh was in many senses a radical throughout his life. As a young man and a committed Whig, he was part of the scheme to overthrow James II and put William III on the throne. He was imprisoned by the French as a political prisoner. In his career as a playwright, he offended many sections of Restoration and 18th century society, not only by the sexual explicitness of his plays, but also by their messages in defence of women's rights in marriage. He was attacked on both counts, and was one of the prime targets of Jeremy Collier's ''Short View of the Immorality and Profaneness of the English Stage''.
In his architectural career, he created what came to be known as English Baroque. His architectural work was as bold and daring as his early political activism and marriage-themed plays, and jarred conservative opinions on the subject. Provided by Wikipedia
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801by Bell, John, 1745-1831Other Authors: “...Vanbrugh, John, 1664-1726...”
Published 1791
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