1839.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



.3(5.5 



designs for a new Museum at St. Fetersburgh ; and the rear of the Her- 

 mitage is spoken as the proposed site, which, however, seems contra- 

 dictory with the idea of any particular magnificence externally. 



IV. The prevailing vice of our modern Greek or Pseudo-Grecian 

 school is that notwithstauding its professed accuracy — not to call it ser- 

 vilityof imitation, its correctness extends tolittle more thancolumns alone. 

 Even as far as the mere order is concerned, all above the capitals of the 

 columns is quite neglected — left offensively bare and unfinished, — the 

 frieze a mere blank, pediment ditto. It avails not to say that the 

 sculptm-es of the friezes and pediments of the examples professed to 

 be followed, are not to be considered as belonging to the architecture 

 itself, but merely extraneous decoration, that may be applied or 

 omitted as most convenient. A very little stretching of that principle 

 might be made to serve as an excuse for dispensing with the foliage 

 of Corinthian capitals, for what else is it but mere useless decoration? 

 Indeed it would be only consonant with both reason and good taste, 

 where we cannot aft'ord to keep up consistency of style by making the 

 cornice and other parts of the entablature of the same degree of rich- 

 ness as the columns, to adopt as the only legitimate alternative that of 

 making the columns consistent with the plainness of all the rest. In- 

 stead of which, while the entablature is suffered to present little more 

 to the eye than a few naked mouldings and shelf-like cornice, the 

 columns themselves have fluted shafts, and highly enriched capitals. 

 That I do not speak merely at random, is easily proved by referring to 

 the portico of the National Gallery and that of St. Pancras, — certainly 

 not the worst specimens of the kind. Indeed the difficulty is not to 

 find examples in confirmation of the defect alleged, but of exceptions 

 to it. At present I can recollect only one, either in London or else- 

 where, namely, St. Mark's chapel in North Audley^ street. As for the 

 greater part of our modern Grecian buildings, what they chiefly show 

 is the utter want of all relish for the style on the part of those who 

 profess to follow it. To say nothing of the omission of sculpture, — 

 when did the Greeks ever terminate a cornice not beneath a pediment 

 witli a mere corona. If the enriched cymatium added to the raking 

 cornices of the pediment were not always continued along the hori- 

 zontal ones on the sides of the building, decoration was invariably 

 supplied by the antefixae, and the ridges of the marble tiling behind 

 tliem. Yet our modern Greeks make no scruple of leaving a plain 

 corona cornice as a termination to the building, should there happen 

 to be no pediment. I do not say that we need precisely copy antique 

 examples in all their particulars ; but if we pretend to imitate them at 

 all, the very least we can do is to do so consistently, and to take care 

 that — no matter how — the same degree of effect be kept up through- 

 out. If that cannot be done — that is, is not allowed to be done, but 

 niggardliness calling itself economy steps in and say it can't be afforded : 

 the next best thing to be done, is to dismiss columns altogether, — and in 

 nine cases out of ten they are quite as useless in themselves, as owing to 

 the ti'eatment of it, the order is i-endered valueless as decoration. But, 

 tlie cry will be, if we give up our columns we surrender up every 

 thing. Take away our columns and how shall we be able to astonish 

 people by our classical taste ? True, very true : — O MY Public of 

 what gullible stuff are ye made! 



ON CHARACTER AND STYLE IN ARCHITECTURE. 



MiXDS incapable of perfection, yet aiming at it, must be constantly 

 in the situation of students. But since tlie obligations of society pre- 

 vent the greater part of mankind from continuing in the schools during 

 the whole of their lives, casual information must be the chief source 

 of improvement. The meaness therefore of an instructor should deter 

 none from accepting instruction. With this apology for offering any 

 remarks to ray betters, I have satisfied myself and hope to propitiate 

 others, especially as I demand nothing for my trouble but the pleasure 

 of seeing an error corrected. 



Since competition has become a prevalent method of selecting an 

 architect, it is desirable that persons who wish to have designs offered 

 them, should be able to express their wishes so as to be completely 

 understood by those gentlemen to whom they address themselves. 

 From the frequency of such competitions, the formulary of particulars 

 has become familiar to most. Yet many incorrect expressions are 

 made use of in some of the best instructions. 



An error which I should be glad to point out occurs in the instruc- 

 tions given by the Council for the New Assize Courts at Liverpool. 

 These are the words made use of, "the character of the building is to 

 be Grecian or Roman architecture." 



Suppose I were standing with the author of this sentence on a pre- 

 cipice of the Alps, overhanging a dark and dreadful chasm, each side 

 of him arising lofty mountains piled one on another, the uppermost 

 peaks lost in the clouds. While his heart beat audibly, and his hand 



grasped fearfully the projecting tree, were I to ask him what was the 

 character of this scenery, he would answer, dreadfully grand ! He 

 would hardly, I think, say that its character was that of toe Peak, or 

 of the Andes. Or again presenting him to a warrior hoary with age 

 and toil, and crowned with victory, would ho tell me that the character 

 of face was that of a Wellington, and not rather that it was noble ami 

 venerable. In both cases rightly discriminating between the container 

 and the thing contained. The term character when applied to a build- 

 ing has a precisely similar signification as when applied to scenery or 

 to a countenance. 



A style is a method of conveying a character, and is as distinct from 

 that character as the human form, the soul of which it is the external 

 representative ; it is the means of explaining to the senses some (in- 

 sensib!e) idea ; in short is the matter, some moral quality being its 

 analogous mind. 



An author desirous of explaining to the world his speculations on 

 any subject, makes use either of prose or of poetry, as one or the 

 other is best capable of conveying his thoughts. If prose be chosen, 

 he considers whether his subject cfemands to be expressed in didactic, 

 argumentative, or collociuial phraseology. If poetry be selected — does 

 he desire to reform morality by a display of virtue, herioc measure 

 will best forward his intention. Does he sing of love, a tender ode 

 is a happy metre in which to tell of Cupid's deeds — or does he lift his 

 soul in adoration, the sacred hymn is now the vehicle of his praise. 



Painters too, have their styles varying with almost every artist. The 

 happiest efforts of Turner's "Sunny style" would ill represent tlie 

 lively energy so admired in Landseer's animals, or the domestic repose 

 of Wilkie's firesides. 



The Greeks and Romans had each a method (style) of building pe- 

 culiar to themselves. With the Greeks the Doric order was expres- 

 sive of extreme grandeur or suhliimty ; the Corinthian of perfect 

 richhess or beauty. Among the Romans the Tuscan order represented 

 the former quality; the Composite the latter. The same qualities 

 are represented by the same forms among us, with the addition of a 

 quality drawn from our feelings with regard to the people from whom 

 we received these forms. What this quality is, persons of greater 

 taste than myself should determine ; but I should say that the Greek' 

 style suggests the idea of mental power, and cultivated genius; tlie 

 Roman of physical strength and commanding weight. Ecclesiastical 

 Gothic architecture suggests feelings of religious reverence. Domes- 

 tic Gothic suggests the liveliest ideas of pleasure that an Englishman 

 can receive, in connection with the word home. 



The aim then of an architect is to make such an arrangement of the 

 parts and detail of a building as shall produce certain sentiments in 

 the minds of beholders. The cpiality connected with these sentiments 

 is the character of the edifice. Thus the sentiments desired to be 

 called forth on beholding a palace are those allied to splendour and 

 majesty; the character tlien of the building should be splendid and 

 majestic. 



Accordingly as one feature predominates in one style, or method of 

 building, is that stvle selected to illustrate that feature. As the author 

 selects poetry or prose, or any subdivisiou of cither, for expressing 

 his thoughts, so the architect uses Grecian, Roman or Gothic, and any 

 subdivision of either to express his. 



The author too combines narrative with conversation, and the poet 

 song with epic verse. The architect composes a design of Ionic and 

 Cofinthian, or of the Doric and Ionic. The true taste of both consists 

 in maintaining one character through the whole, and so combining as 

 to produce harmony without monotony, and so contrasting as to pro- 

 duce variety without confusion. 



The failure in our modern edifices is not so ranch, that our con- 

 struction is bad or our detail faulty, as that our architects have either 

 not greatness of soul to imagine, or completeness of education to ex- 

 press, an appropriate character in our buildings. Thus we have a 

 palace of royalty degraded into a residence better adapted for Venus ; 

 and om- private houses elevated into temples. Churches now fit for 

 houses and now for stage-plays. Sometimes to spend his patrons 

 money and display his own taste, an architect! relieves our mono- 

 tonous streets by a house adorned w ith cluu'ch windows, iu the richest 

 style of tracery. A rich feast for connoisseurs, b>it that, alas ! the 

 mullions and tracery are executed in cast iron of a quarter of an inch 

 thick. Cast iron indeed reigns triumphantly every where, adorned 

 with the garments of its cast down rivals, stone, wood, and brick. 

 One would think from the cold and starved appearance of many build- 

 ings that the artists hearts were cast iron too. 



But to conclude, if I have explained to one person ignorant of the 

 fact, that there is a ditterence between character and style 1 am satis- 

 fied. * *. 



