Author: Knight, Richard Payne
Biography:
KNIGHT, Richard Payne (1751-1824: ODNB)
He was born at Wormsley Grange, Herefordshire, the eldest of four children of the Rev. Thomas Knight (1697-1764) and his wife Ursula Nash (1715-98). Two daughters died young but both boys, Richard and Thomas, were celebrated in their chosen spheres, connoisseurship and horticulture respectively. Each was heir to a fortune. Richard, who was considered sickly, was educated at home and then at the house of a private tutor who introduced him to Greek, which became a lifelong study and passion. After his Grand Tour through France and Italy (1772-3) he returned frequently to ancient sites on the Continent, sometimes with artists as his travelling companions. He designed and had built a crenellated house on his estate at Downton, Herefordshire, and kept a town house in Soho Square in London. He never married. From 1780 to 1806 he was MP first for Leominster and then for Ludlow; on giving up his seat in 1806 he made over Downton Castle to his married brother and retired to a small house on the estate. Most of his energies went into his sometimes singular aesthetic interests. Many of his publications courted controversy, notably an account of evidence of phallic worship (1786) and his contention that the Elgin Marbles were not Greek originals but Hellenistic copies. But his Analytical Inquiry into the Principles of Taste, of which 62 editions in English were published between 1805 and 2014, made a serious contribution to aesthetic theory; he was a pioneer in the Picturesque movement; and he was not only a longtime trustee of the British Museum but also a major donor, with a large bequest of drawings, coins, and bronzes. He died of a stroke in London on 23 Apr. 1824 and was buried at Wormsley church in Herefordshire. (ODNB 15 Jun. 2021; WorldCat) HJ
Other Names:
- R. P. Knight
- R. Payne Knight