The architect, designer and draughtsman Inigo Jones (1573-1652) is shown in three-quarter-length, looking to the left. He wears a grey jacket with robes and a blue cap. In his left hand is a piece of paper on which is drawn the plan of the Banqueting House, Whitehall, one of his most famous projects. Began in 1619, and designed by Jones in the neo-classical style of Palladio, the Banqueting House was completed in 1622 and today is the only remaining component of the Palace of Whitehall.

The composition of this portrait is based on Van Dyck's image in the 'Iconography', probably via the engraving by Robert van Voerst. In the engraving the sheet of paper held by Jones is blank; it is likely that Nogari added the Banqueting House detail to reflect both the achievements of the sitter and the interests of the painting's patron, Consul Joseph Smith. Interested in Palladian architecture, Smith owned a series of caprice images of English Palladian buildings painted by Visentini and Zuccarelli, which included a view of the Banqueting House and a view of Jones's own house, Lindsay House, in Lincoln's Inn Fields.

This painting is a larger-scale work, and more ambitious, than the series of portraits of painters by Nogari which are thought to have originated around the same period and are also in the royal collection.