Nicholas Stone, Sr.

Nicholas Stone, Sr. (born 1585/88, Woodbury, Devon, England—died August 24, 1647, Winchester, Hampshire?) was the most important English mason-sculptor of the early 17th century.

Stone studied under Hendrick de Keyser in Amsterdam (1606–13) and was the master mason under Inigo Jones in the construction of the Banqueting House at Whitehall (1619–22). As a tomb sculptor, Stone was well established in London by 1622, and he became master mason to the crown in 1632.

His style evolved from a naturalistic approach to a more classical one, as in the Francis Holles Monument (1622) in Westminster Abbey, which also demonstrates the influence on Stone of Michelangelo’s tomb of Giuliano de Medici. Stone was an innovator, and his use of the circular base was unusual in the early 17th century. The North Gate of the Botanical Garden (1632) at Oxford reflects Renaissance ideas of garden architecture. He executed some of the sculptural decoration on the work, but additions were made at a later time. The Sir Charles Morison Monument (1619) at St. Mary’s Church in Watford, Hertfordshire, exemplifies his naturalistic style. Another classical work is the Lyttelton Monument (1634) at Magdalen College, Oxford.

Stone’s more than 80 commissions were primarily executed in alabaster, marble, or stone. He produced some of the most significant monuments and sculptures of the entire 17th century in England.