1840.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



187 



Assuming this, it is somewhat singular to compare any Grecian 

 temple with any mansion erected by Inigo Jones — or any palace erected 

 by Palladio. We see at once by what a different method the Grecian 

 artist produced variety in his edifice. The Greek was all simplicity — 

 his outline was distinct, symmetrical, unconfused, and shadowless, ex- 

 cept the portico. And variety instead of being beheld in the body and 

 bulk of the temple, is seen rather rambling in the cornice, whilst reliefs 

 are visible in the mouldings of the architrave, and the figures of the 

 frieze. 



To analyze this subject more closely, however, it becomes necessary 

 to class the peculiarities of the perpendicular and horizontal lines ac- 

 cording to time, and as seen iu the various countries of architectural 

 renown. 



The descent from the classical originals in art was by a comparison 

 with Grecian art, where symmetry ruled design to introduce extremes. 

 And though we see eliective compositions in Italy and elsewhere, we 

 perceive that the bent of innovation was to introduce the perpendicu- 

 lar — only slightly seen at first — with the tendency to give altitude, 

 appearing but faintly, gradually, and then only iu a part of the edifice, 

 undiffused. 



The tower or some part en masse reared itself square, and without 

 pilasters or columns at first even solid itself in plan, but this very con- 

 trast to the other part showed the perpendicular in its infancy. Until 

 as the debased Roman architecture of the lower empire which forms 

 the foundation of the Saxon, Norman, and Lombard school became suc- 

 cessively improved in England and the north of Europe, the perpendi- 

 cular found its way into those beautiful modifications, termed Gothic — 

 and finally in the religious edifice became invested with a charm to an 

 Englishman's fancy. For up these columns in the cathedral the eye 

 wanders for repose, but finds itself lost in the intricate beauties of the 

 roof, and rambling amidst the strange and the wonderful, as amidst 

 types of the vast and incomprehensible creator. 



To trace the first change from the severe to tlie elegant, from the 

 breadth of dignity to the delicacy of after times. We find before the 

 invasion of Greece by Xerxes, the Doric was the only order known. 

 Pericles_and Cimon, however, on the rebuilding of Athens, by the in- 

 troduction of the Ionic order from Asia into Attica, invested the an- 

 cient massive simplicity with something of the lightness and elegance 

 of grace. The Corinthian soon after invented, introduced more softened 

 beauty into the taperings of elegance. The edifice before this in- 

 debted to Doric proportions for its effect, becomes now more lofty and 

 chastely beautiful without violation to the simplicity of the whole. 

 'And this change is of great importance, when we consider in a Grecian 

 temple that the circular of the column is in itself a relief, that the pe- 

 culiarity in change is that although the result is elegance itself, as a 

 whole the principles of the change are very slight. 



Turning from Greece to other states of importance, who for con- 

 venience snatch their ideas from the polished and the civilized. The 

 Roman appears crude at first in his attempts, alive to the beauty of 

 Grecian proportion, but fashioning a style therefrom peculiarly his 

 own. Unpossessed of the coolness of the Grecian, we see his ideas ex- 

 tending, the principles of his composition dirt'erent. Unsatisfied with 

 the novelties of ornament and recesses, he must pierce the sky — and 

 we find the Pantheon in its dome, the bursting as it were of variety, 

 as a grand feature (and this the result of altitude) from the cradle of 

 ideal taste. We see here the great father of lofty turrets, tapering 

 domes, campaniles and minarets, which with the declining power and 

 fading grandeur of Rome became so welcome to the Italian artist. 



The removal of the seat of empire to Constantinople accelerated the 

 change— St. Sophia and its mniarets betray it — and at length variety 

 became too important. That which appears a foil to the Grecian 

 edifice appears no longer such in the Italian. The old relics of gran- 

 deur were neglected — Venice and Pisa new-born and wealthy sought 

 their artists from Constantinople, and the old standard of Roman ex- 

 cellence and pure dignity became less and less visible in the Lombard 

 barbarians. The .Saracen, the Moor, the Lombard and Italian, evince 

 so many poor attempts to turn classic symmetry into their own love of 

 tapering forms and fanciful outline. The Ducal palace at Venice has 

 the very corners cut away to admit a thin column — lightness is seen 

 here where strength should appear — a fret work of shafts is the sup- 

 port of an impending weight, and the whole is distortion. 



Palladio however seems distinct from these errors. In the Redentore 

 church, Venice, Palladio gives a lofty elevation — the dome diminish- 

 ing in contour terminates in a figure. The dome itself is winged by 

 turrets pierced above and capped by a cone. The whole is lotty and 

 imposing, because pettiness in ornament is unseen; and the statues are 

 judiciously placed uncrowded, and themselves important features, but 

 the whole is but the grandeur of the perpendicular. In the San Pe- 

 tronio di Bologna a change appears, with the same love of tapering 

 forms, the same hankering after the perpendicular we lose the grandeur 



of parts in the horizontal breadth, the intersections of the cornices, the 

 play of breadths, the friezes are scarcely relieved by the height of the 

 centre, by its diminution, by its statues, or balanced by the pyramidal 

 terminations of the wings. 



The descent from the purity of Palladio was evinced by a frequency 

 of columns, but then again to have these, induced another fashion of 

 variety. To relieve the multiplicity of cokunns from offence, horizon- 

 tal lines were introduced ; cornices traced themselves throughout and 

 extended their fatherly protection to a host of trifling perpendiculars. 

 In the Baptistery at Pisa we see this, and most of those cities not re- 

 moved from the pale of the remains of Roman taste, displayed this 

 confusion ot lines. Proceeding in the direction of Milan, we find Lom- 

 bard Gothic and orders all united. And the miscellany, as in Milan 

 cathedral, seems to reminds us of the full grown dignity sometimes 

 seen in a dwarf, mixed up with his littleness of parts. Removed from 

 the relics of classic influence we find the |)erpendicular gaining ground, 

 we see the edifices of northern Europe, of Normandy, &c. beautiful 

 and their own — elegant though profuse — lovely though intricate. 

 Turning to Sicily we find the Normans introducing a mixture of their 

 own with the Saracenic ; and the cloisters of Monreal, the Alharabra 

 of that country, aboimding in columns twisted, spiral, light, and yet 

 singular, a mixture of perjjendicular and arch — full of wild and fanci- 

 ful conceptions. In Florence we find the great exactness in the 

 horizontal. The palaces there are so many feudal residences — edifices 

 nearly 300 feet in length, in which the stylobate runs along the whole 

 facade where the windows are widely apart, and the very roof frowns 

 upon you. — The subject is a curious one, it opens a wide field of in- 

 formation to the antiquary and artist — but to unite these two lines is 

 the secret of expressuig charms, and we love the harmonious union as 

 we love in the broad landscape, the lofty tree, the distant mountain, or 

 a church tower, and thus by grasping the great principle of effect in 

 nature, we possess the most mighty wand in creating and displaying 

 the perfections of the beau ideal. 



Frederick East, M.A., 



Leigh House, Tooting, Surrey. 



EXfflBITION, ROYAL ACADEMY. 



ARCHITECTURE. 



It is with regret we feel ourselves compelled to commence our report 

 by stating the present exhibition to be the least interesting one for many 

 years past; not because it contains a greater number of interior designs, 

 but because there are much fewer of an attractive kind than usual. 

 Always has there been a great deal of trash, but there have generally 

 been many designs forming redeeming points — cheering oasts amidst 

 the surrounding desert; whereas, this year, the latter are both more 

 rare and less brilliant. A desert, however, will not be thought the 

 most appropriate simile, the walls being, on this as on every other 

 occasion, crowded and crammed from the floor to the very top of the 

 room. Whether this system his any influence at all upon the quality 

 of the drawings admitted — whether some are not admitted merely 

 because thev happen to fit nicely into vacant places, while others are 

 turned out because they cannot be hung up without disarranging 

 something else, or perhaps causing a few square inches of wall to be 

 left bare, we know not ; which being the case, we are bound to presume 

 that merit obtains preference with the Academy ; yet if so, what opi- 

 nion are we to form of the designs which are turned out? At all 

 events, the Academy seems to act very naturally, because, like Nature 

 herself, it evidently abhors a vacuum — upon its walls— no matter what 

 is hung up in order to avoid that evil. 



To be more serious — we have little doubt, for our own part, that 

 the public are deprived of seeing much that would be creditable to 

 the profession, solely because architects are deterred from sending 

 drawings to the Academy, being aware that the space allotted to such 

 subjects is so utterly inadequate, that it becomes a mere chance whether 

 they can be received, or if they are, whether they will not be put com-- 

 pletely out of sight, as is invariably the case with a considerable pro- 

 portion of those which are received. In fact, there ought not to be more 

 than two ranges of frames hung upon each wall, on what is teclmicaliy 

 termed the line, which space, being now generally occupied by the 

 larger and more prominent drawings, the lesser ones, which — suppos- 

 ing they are worth looking at at all, — -ought to be hung as near the eye 

 as possible, are placed either so much above or below it, that it is 

 frequently barely possible to make out their subjects. Thus the 

 catalogue may be said to be in a great measure quite delusive, pro- 

 mising us what appear to be interesting subjects, and when we enter 

 the room to look for them, we find that several are scarcely to be 



aG2 



