born July 15, 1573, Smithfield, London, Eng.
died June 21, 1652, London
British painter, architect, and designer.
The son of a clothworker, he studied painting in Italy and attracted the patronage of the king of Denmark, for whom he apparently designed two palaces before returning to England. Beginning in 1605, he designed the scenes and costumes for masques by Ben Jonson and others. From 1615 to 1642, he was the King's Surveyor of Works. His first important undertaking was the Queen's House at Greenwich (begun 1616), England's first Palladian-style building. His greatest achievement, the Banqueting House at Whitehall (161922), consists of one great raised chamber with colonnades set against the walls, which support a flat, beamed ceiling. For his design for Covent Garden (1630), London's first square, Jones is credited with the introduction of town planning in England.