Entrepreneurs liked pared down grandeur

In Ireland the years 1720-60 were, on the whole, a period of economic stability which led to an unprecedented development in the arts of architecture and decoration. The British Isles under the Hanoverian Kings were dominated by the Whig political party whose fervent nationalism led to the adoption of an architectural and decorative style that could clearly be identified with their political persuasions.

On the grounds of purity, clarity and practicality, they promoted the Italian High Renaissance architecture of Andrea Palladio and his contemporaries - now referred to as Neo Palladianism. Palladio had already been introduced to England by Inigo Jones in the early 17th century.

The revival by Whig personalities combined the best of Renaissance ideas with the adaptations of Jones to accommodate both the Northern customs and climate.

It was a dogged, masculine, confident style that appealed to the entrepreneurs who were developing Irish cities and building their country houses with the profits.

It was an age of formality and social protocol and the component parts of Palladian buildings were clearly identifiable so that everyone knew their place.

Palladian beauty derived from mathematical order and a sense of proportion which had a colonial appropriateness in a country recovering from the disruptions of the 17th century.

The period is rightly proclaimed to be one of aristocratic taste and sensibility - and so it was, but in Ireland, the edges were somewhat blurred: entrepreneurial skills and the openings available led to the rapid enrichment and ennoblement of many commoners which gave pep and vitality to Viceregal society.

Grandeur was the keynote: Palladian houses were conceived around procession and protocol. Customs conceived in Italian Renaissance courts and perfected by the French in the 17th century meant that movement through a sequence of rooms depended upon social status.

The lucidity of Palladian architecture and decoration meant that who you were, what your business was and even the time of day, dictated where and how far to venture into a stranger's house.

Outer halls and lobbies reflected exterior architecture and their use as a place of reception and business. In Ireland, for some reason, these halls were occasionally used as a common sittingroom despite the rather bleak nature of the decoration.

In large houses, there might be several reception rooms, known as apartments, laid out on an axis whose decoration became more elaborate the further one progressed.

The penultimate room was the bedchamber where the bed, like a medieval cloth of state, was a symbol of economic status and a suitable background for the reception of important persons. Beyond the formal reception rooms were closets whose diminutive size indicated intimate decoration and informal living.

The elements of architecture were the source of decoration: pilasters, panelled walls, pedimented chimneypieces and heavy-compartmented ceilings.

Thanks to Palladio's circle - and Jones's - there was a rich repertoire of classical forms with which to articulate a room. The imitation of ancient and particularly Roman architecture, as seen through the eyes of the Italian Renaissance, was the root of inspiration. Thus entrance halls aspired to be stone atria and, depending on the budget, were executed in plaster or wood finished to imitate ashlar.

Wooden wainscoting insulated reception rooms from the cold, but the rectilinear format of the panels was derived from the classical orders. Unless made of oak, wainscoting was generally painted and although elegant, was formal and not conducive to relaxation.

To alleviate this, sometimes the inner half of panelled rooms was hung with tapestry or textiles. This subdivision created a less formal zone within the suite or enfilade of rooms.

The chimneypiece, the source of much light and all heat, was the most monumental decorative feature in a Neo Palladian interior and the money lavished upon it was indicative of the importance of the room.

Heavy, pedimented black or floridly coloured marble confections were suitable for saloons and state bedchambers: those that were smaller, and more finely finished in white marble, were suitable for sittingrooms or studies.

Colours were similarly straightforward and walls were opaquely painted in a limited range of colours generally derived from earth pigments: buff, stone and olive were popular.

These "drab" colours emphasised the architectural mouldings and acted as a background for gilt frames, textiles and looking glasses.

Picking out of plasterwork or mouldings was rare, although some large rooms painted in pale stone had touches of gilding to act as a contrast. Closets were frequently used for experimental or more expensive schemes and in these little rooms vivid "verditer" blues or painted silks were to be found.

Frequently it seems that joinery was painted in with the walls and often the only contrasts were to be found in the whitened ceilings and the dark painted skirting boards.

Architecture in all its forms was the key to Palladian decoration and fabrics occupied a limited though not unimportant role. They seem to have been used as a colourful and textural contrast to the stiff architectural framework.

Curtains generally took the form of festoon blinds which drew up and down on strings and rollers from a board above the window.

Fabrics included Genoese velvets, damasks or in more modest houses worsteds and cottons. When drawn up, the festoons were tightly bunched and only their colours - vivid red or green - acted as bright contrasts to the muted surroundings.