512 



THE CENTURY BOOK OF FACTS. 



red and brown brick, round arched, and with- 

 out the orders, and may, perhaps, be called 

 Romanesque. Other specimens of Washing- 

 ton architecture worthy of mention are the 

 new Corcoran Art Gallery, the Smithsonian 

 Institution, and the War, State, and Navy 

 building. 



Besides the buildings of the Greek style 

 erected in Washington, others, not only by the 

 government but by banking corporations) 

 commercial houses, etc., have been erected in 

 various parts of the country. The two best of 

 these are probably the Sub-Treasury building 

 at New York and Girard College at Philadel- 

 phia. Both are of white marble, and the latter 

 modeled, as to the exterior, after the Parthe- 

 non, that is so far as possible, while employ- 

 ing a different order of architecture. It is 

 considered the Greek building par excellence 

 of America, as the Madeleine is of (France, 

 and is a Corinthian peristyle resting upon a 

 Grecian stylobate. Its monolithic colonnade is 

 quite imposing, but as a whole it fails to excite 

 in the beholder much of that emotion which is 

 awakened by the Grecian edifice. Cold and 

 unimpressive, it seems rather like some rare 

 exotic a thing to be gazed and wondered at 

 rather than enjoyed. This is.no doubt attrib- 

 utable in part to its position, for while the 

 Greek temple always crowned some lofty 

 height, or some jutting spur, this edifice is 

 built in the middle of a broad, flat plain, with- 

 out any relief from the blue sky or jagged 

 mountain side. 



Several of the state capitols illustrate pleas- 

 ing styles of architecture. The state house at 

 Newport is a perfectly symmetrical brick and 

 stone structure, commenced in 1738. It has 

 rectangular windows with quoins, a balcony over 

 the entrance, above the balcony a broken pedi- 

 ment, and over this a truncated gable. Over 

 all rises a low octagonal tui-ret. The old state 

 house at Boston is of the same period ; it is a 

 very plain structure, with a wide entrance and 

 curious end gables. Independence Hall and 

 the White House belong to the same period. 



The State Capitol at Albany, as originally de- 

 signed, was an immense rectangular Renais- 

 sance block, in which an order was given to 

 each story, much after the style practiced at 

 Venice by Sansovino and San Micheli, and was 

 crowned by a domical tower of grand propor- 

 tions. The design was improved by Richard- 

 son, and the upper portions of the edifice were 

 completed according to it. There is great 

 beauty in the newer portion, but it cannot be 

 said that there is congruity . The towers are Ro- 

 manesque, while the cornice of the order below 

 is changed to Gothic. Parts of the interior, as 

 the Hall of Assembly, the work of Eidlitz, are 



Gothic of the most beautiful kind vaulted 

 mediaeval halls enshrined in a classical exterior. 



Thf < 'ii/iito/ at /fur/ford, < 'mint client, al- 

 though it has a dome like niany other capitols, 

 is far from being an ordinary structure, and 

 may be reckoned one of the finest public build- 

 ings in the United States. The style is Gothic, 

 and the regular fagade is broken into a center, 

 curtains, and wings. The center has two low 

 towers in every Way subordinate to the tall 

 tambour and. dome which rise behind them. 

 This cupola crown tower is decidedly Gothic 

 in the sentiment of its details. 



The City ffail, Philadelphia, is among the 

 largest of modern buildings, slightly exceeding 

 the Capitol at Washington in area. Seldom 

 has a better opportunity been afforded for ar- 

 chitectonic display than is given by its posi- 

 tion at the junction of two of the principal 

 streets of the city. It occupies what was once 

 Penn Square and thus stands free all around. 

 This immense structure is conceived in the 

 style of the Louvre at Paris with central and 

 angle pavilions, the whole surmounted by 

 a mansard roof of great height. Each front 

 is a symmetrical whole, and, with the exception 

 of the slight difference in length, the fronts 

 are alike. The central feature is a gigantic 

 tower which rises upward of 537 feet above 

 the pavement. This tower was designed to be 

 the loftiest in the world, but in this respect 

 has already been surpassed by the Washing- 

 ton Monument at the National Capital. The 

 magnificence of this edifice consists in its im- 

 posing dimensions, the rich array of marble 

 and polished granite, and the beautiful sculp- 

 ture which adorns its faQades and entrance 

 halls. 



In our largest cities we find many church 

 edifices both completed and in process of 

 erection which are worthy of attention for their 

 architecture as well as the solidity and beauty 

 of material employed. Most of. these are of 

 the Gothic style. 



Trinity ' (.'/turrit in Nac York, completed in 

 1846, was the first stone edifice after the Gothic, 

 in America. It is most nearly allied to tin- 

 early English, and the architect deserves the 

 gratitude of all lovers of the beautiful, for giv- 

 ing his countrymen so' elegant and chaste a 

 model. 



Grace Church in the same city, built of gran- 

 ite, is of a more ornate style and presents 

 nearly all the peculiar features of the Gothic, 

 although in small dimensions. 



St. Patrick's Cathedral, fronting on Central 

 Park, affords us the best specimen of the Gothic 

 as it prevailed in Europe in the fourteenth cen- 

 tury. The style is commonly known as the Dec- 

 orated or Geometric Gothic. Trinity Church, 



