This year’s themed publication is Vanbrugh and his Time, inspired by Sir John Vanbrugh, who died 300 years ago.
Vanbrugh’s connection with Marlborough is immediate and tangible: he was the architect of Blenheim Palace, built for the Duke of Marlborough as a monument to military success and national confidence. More than this, the College itself sits within an architectural landscape shaped by the same cultural moment — C1 itself is a major piece of architecture contemporary with Vanbrugh’s work, and one that pupils encounter every day.
Through Vanbrugh and his world, our academic scholars have been exploring a period of extraordinary ambition, creativity, and intellectual energy. Spanning the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, this was an era shaped by political upheaval, scientific discovery, and artistic experimentation.
Like the period it examines, this publication is deliberately wide-ranging. Our scholars engage with architecture, fashion, warfare, collecting, politics, scientific discovery, and ideas of knowledge and wonder, revealing an age defined by curiosity as much as conflict.
Our launch articles reflect this breadth of enquiry, curated by my excellent co-editors in the Remove, Sophia and Felix. Ned B-S examines how Vanbrugh used light to enhance the impact of his architectural designs; Lily B considers whether Vanbrugh fundamentally reshaped the English country house; Tara L explores the cultural significance of wigs as markers of status and identity; Yan Ling T investigates why the seventeenth century was characterised by such frequent warfare; and Felix M-B delves into the concept of wonder and the Wunderkammer, revealing how early modern collectors sought to understand an expanding world.
You can read these articles on our Vanbrugh and his Time webpage. Further contributions will follow shortly.
We hope that you enjoy reading these pieces, and that they capture the intellectual ambition, curiosity, and confidence of our scholars, as well as their ability to use Vanbrugh as a unifying lens through which to explore one of the most dynamic periods in history.
Charlotte Payne
Head of Academic Scholars (Remove), Classics Department
