Architecture Part 7

CHAPTER XI

RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE IN GREAT BRITAIN

It was only by very slow degrees that the Renaissance style was introduced into England, native architects and those for whom they worked having clung with almost pathetic devotion to the traditions of the past. At the end of the 15th century the Gothic style was still in full vigour on this side of the Channel, and although early in the 16th century it was to a great extent modified by the influence of the foreign artists who were attracted to the court of Henry VIII by the lavish patronage of the young monarch, it continued to the end of the century to check the development of pure Renaissance, the two styles to a great extent neutralising each other.

It is significant of the change of the att.i.tude of rulers and ruled towards religion that took place in England during the 16th and 17th centuries, that it was no longer in churches and cathedrals that architecture achieved its greatest triumphs, but in palaces, manor-houses, colleges, and places of public entertainment. No longer was the soaring Gothic style to voice in stone the aspirations of worshippers for closer intercourse with the divine; the best energies of architects were henceforth to be directed to the promotion of comfort and luxury in private life, and for the realisation of this comparatively ign.o.ble aim the revived cla.s.sic style was peculiarly adapted. True, the spirit of the Renaissance did not display itself so fully in architecture as in other branches of human endeavour, but for all that its working was very apparent, a.s.suming a certain character of its own in England.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Portion of Lilford Hall, Northants]

First Italians, amongst whom the most distinguished were Torregiano, designer of the tomb of Henry VII in Westminster Abbey, Giovanni da Majano, and Giovanni da Padua, the architect of Longleat in Wiltshire, then Flemings and Germans, none of whom, however, except John of Cleves, designer of Caius College, Cambridge, rose to any special eminence, endeavoured to graft their own upon English methods, succeeding with rare exceptions only so far as the minor details of ornamentation were concerned.

It is not to these men of alien birth but to the builders and masons of rural England that the country owes the many n.o.ble residences, dating from the late 16th and early 17th centuries, that, Gothic so far as their principles of construction are concerned, are enriched or spoiled, according to the point of view from which they are considered, by Renaissance ornamentation. Amongst these builders Thomas Holt, author of the Divinity School of Oxford, and Robert Smithson and John Thorpe, joint designers of Wollaton Hall, Northamptonshire, were especially distinguished. To the last named many critics also attribute Holland House, London, Rushton, Kirkby and Apethorpe Halls in Northamptonshire, and Knowle House in Kent, all of which are truly typical examples of English 16th or early 17th domestic or academic architecture at its best. To about the same period belong Lilford Hall, Northants, Westwood, Bolsover, Charlton, and Hatfield Houses, all somewhat wanting in the dignified simplicity of plan of the work of the men quoted above, but with an undoubted charm of their own.

The master-builders who alike designed and executed the many beautiful mansions and colleges of the Elizabethan age--with whom must be a.s.sociated the later John Abel, designer of several fine market-halls, including those of Kingston, Hereford, and Leominster--may justly be said to have paved the way for Inigo Jones, the first Englishman to introduce pure Renaissance architecture into his native land. Already before his advent these humble predecessors had partly evolved, out of the mediaeval castle and the mediaeval cottage, what was to become the typical English home, bringing about something like a revolution in planning by the innovations introduced by them with a view to admitting more air and light, and rendering access to the upper floors easier by the subst.i.tution of an internal staircase, for the external flight of steps leading up to each separate room hitherto the fashion.

Gifted with a vivid imagination and a rare faculty of design, Inigo Jones succeeded in so adapting Italian ideals, especially those of Palladio, to English needs, that he may justly be said to have founded something approaching to a national style. Unfortunately few of the many schemes evolved by him were carried out in their entirety, but his plans and drawings prove him to have been the equal and, in some respects, even the superior of his great successor, Sir Christopher Wren. Of his grand design for the new Palace of Whitehall after the fire of 1619, the Banqueting Hall, considered his masterpiece, alone was completed, but he was the real architect of the equally successful Greenwich Hospital, for it was his plan that was followed after his death by Wren.

Although it is the custom to dwell much on the unique opportunity afforded to Sir Christopher Wren by the great fire of 1666, there is no doubt that even without it he would have set his seal on the period during which he lived. His additions to Hampton Court Palace are most dignified and appropriate, his semi-Gothic Tom Tower at Oxford well ill.u.s.trates his keen sense of environment, and his design for a Royal Palace at Winchester, had it been carried out, would have given to that city a building worthy to rank with its cathedral. As it is, his fame rests chiefly on his work in London, although the masterly scheme he drew up for the rebuilding of the whole town had to be considerably modified.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Portion of Greenwich Hospital]

S. Paul's Cathedral, that dominates the vast agglomeration making up the modern capital, reflects, in its solemn and dignified beauty, almost as clearly as did a mediaeval ecclesiastical Gothic edifice, the spirit of its age, during which the Puritan replaced the Roman Catholic ideal, and a rigid Protestantism became the religion of the people. Of n.o.ble and most harmonious proportions, S. Paul's is cruciform in plan, every portion of its exterior and interior subordinated to the great central dome, that, consisting as it does of an outer and inner vault, is equally impressive whether seen from within or from without. From whatever point of view, the dome, with its graceful lantern surmounted by a cross, remains the central feature of a structure at unity with itself, consistent in every detail, the western towers and the great central portico with their appropriate cla.s.sic pilasters and columns all being in complete and satisfying accord.

The Churches of S. Stephen, Walbrook, S. Andrew, Holborn, S. James, Piccadilly, S. Clements Danes, S. Bride's, Fleet Street, and Bow are amongst the finest designed by Wren. The steeples of the last three are especially noteworthy as the earliest examples in England of the use of that feature in Renaissance buildings.

Sir Christopher did not pa.s.s away until the 18th century, which was to witness a rapid decline of architecture in England. His influence had begun to wane even before his death, and few of his immediate successors, with the exceptions of his pupils, Nicholas Hawkesmoor, architect of S. George's, Bloomsbury, and other London churches of similar design, and Sir John Vanburgh, who designed Castle Howard and Blenheim Palace, rose to eminence. James Gibbs, designer of the Ratcliffe Library at Oxford, also did some good work; the brothers Adam successfully imitated cla.s.sic forms in certain London and Edinburgh buildings, and Sir Robert Taylor won some distinction by the Halls erected by him in Herefordshire and Ess.e.x.

Towards the close of the century a cla.s.sic revival inaugurated by Sir William Chambers, designer of Somerset House, took place in England, and it became the fashion to add a Greek portico to every important public or private building. Typical examples of the new departure are S.

Pancras Church, London, that is a kind of compilation from the Parthenon, the Erectheum, and the Temple of the Winds at Athens, and S.

George's Hall, Liverpool, a skilful adaptation of the design of a hall of one of the great Thermae of Rome.

Early in the 19th century a reaction took place against the cla.s.sic style, which was not really adapted to the English climate, and architects began to show a desire to revert to Gothic traditions. In this new movement Sir Charles Barry took the lead. The Houses of Parliament, in the latest phase of the style, considered his masterpiece, is specially successful in its general plan and in the picturesqueness of its exterior. With Sir Charles Barry must be a.s.sociated Augustine Pugin, a man of fine genius and originality, with a genuine feeling for mediaeval Gothic, Norman Shaw, and Bodley, all of whom have done much to leaven the utilitarian tendencies of modern times.

THE FIRST NINETY-SIX VOLUMES

1. The Foundations of Science By W. C. D. Whetham, M.A., F.R.S.

2. Embryology—The Beginnings of Life By Prof. Gerald Leighton, M.D.

3. Biology By Prof. W. D. Henderson, M.A.

4. Zoology: The Study of Animal Life By Prof. E. W. MacBride, M.A., F.R.S.

5. Botany; The Modern Study of Plants By M. C. Stopes, D.Sc., Ph.D., F.L.S.

7. The Structure of the Earth By Prof. T. G. Bonney, F.R.S.

8. Evolution By E. S. Goodrich, M.A., F.R.S.

10. Heredity By J. A. S. Watson, B.Sc.

11. Inorganic Chemistry By Prof. E. C. C. Baly, F.R.S.

12. Organic Chemistry By Prof. J. B. Cohen, B.Sc., F.R.S.

13. The Principles of Electricity By Norman R. Campbell, M.A.

14. Radiation By P. Phillips, D.Sc.

15. The Science of the Stars By E. W. Maunder, F.R.A.S.

16. The Science of Light By P. Phillips. D.Sc.

17. Weather Science By R. G. K. Lempfert, M.A.

18. Hypnotism and Self-Education By A. M. Hutchison, M.D.

19. The Baby: A Mother's Book By a University Woman.

20. Youth and s.e.x—Dangers and Safeguards for Boys and Girls By Mary Scharlieb, M.D., M.S., and F. Arthur Sibly, M.A., LL.D.

21. Marriage and Motherhood By H. S. Davidson, M.B., F.R.C.S.E.

22. Lord Kelvin By A. Russell, M.A., D.Sc., M.I.E.E.

23. Huxley By Professor G. Leighton, M.D.

24. Sir William Huggins and Spectroscopic Astronomy By E. W. Maunder, F.R.A.S., of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich.

26. Henri Bergson By H. Wildon Carr, Litt.D.

27. Psychology By H. J. Watt, M.A., Ph.D., D.Phil.

28. Ethics By Canon Rashdall, D.Litt., F.B.A.

29. Kant's Philosophy By A. D. Lindsay, M.A. of Balliol College, Oxford.

32. Roman Catholicism By H. B. c.o.xon. Preface, Mgr. R. H. Benson.

33. The Oxford Movement By Wilfrid Ward.

34. The Bible and Criticism By W. H. Bennett, D.D., Litt.D., and W. F. Adeney, D.D.

36. The Growth of Freedom By H. W. Nevinson.

37. Bismarck and the Origin of the German Empire Professor F. M. Powicke.

38. Oliver Cromwell By Hilda Johnstone, M.A.

39. Mary Queen of Scots By E. O'Neill, M.A.

40. Cecil John Rhodes, 1853-1902 By Ian D. Colvin.

41. Julius Caesar By Hilary Hardinge.

42. England in the Making By Prof. F. J. C. Hearnshaw, M.A., LL.D.

43. England in the Middle Ages By E. O'Neill, M.A.

44. The Monarchy and the People By W. T. Waugh, M.A.

45. The Industrial Revolution By Arthur Jones, M.A.

46. Empire and Democracy By G. S. Veitch, M.A., Litt.D.

47. Women's Suffrage By M. G. Fawcett, LL.D.

51. Shakespeare By Prof. C. H. Herford, Litt. D.

52. Wordsworth By Rosaline Ma.s.son.

53. Pure Gold—A Choice of Lyrics and Sonnets By H. C. O'Neill.

54. Francis Bacon By Prof. A. R. Skemp, M.A.

55. The Brontes By Flora Ma.s.son.

56. Carlyle By L. MacLean Watt.

57. Dante By A. G. Ferrers Howell.

60. A Dictionary of Synonyms By Austin K. Gray, B.A.

61. Home Rule By L. G. Redmond Howard. Preface by Robert Harcourt, M.P.

62. Practical Astronomy By H. Macpherson, Jr., F.R.A.S.

63. Aviation By Sydney F. Walker, R.N.

64. Navigation By William Hall, R.N., B.A.

65. Pond Life By E. C. Ash, M.R.A.C.

66. Dietetics By Alex. Bryce, M.D., D.P.H.

67. Aristotle By Prof. A. E. Taylor, M.A., F.B.A.

68. Friedrich Nietzsche By M. A. Mugge.

69. Eucken: A Philosophy of Life By A. J. Jones, M.A., B.Sc., Ph.D.

70. The Experimental Psychology of Beauty By C. W. Valentine, B.A., D.Phil.

71. The Problem of Truth By H. Wildon Carr, Litt.D.

72. The Church of England By Rev. Canon Masterman.