434 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[November, 



of the south, and is divided into seven compartments, three of them being 

 formed into a centre, and the remaining two on each side being treated pre- 

 cisely in the same manner as the ten wing-divisions in the Cornhill front. 

 The three central compartments are somewhat recessed, and are divided by 

 four columns instead of pilasters, two of the columns being isolated, and two 

 partly attached. The arches in these are of a more ornate character than 

 their neighbours, each being surrounded by a band of oak leaves, and finished 

 with a massive keystone, that branches out with scrolls to form a corbelling 

 for the support of the window dressings above, which are of large propor- 

 tions and elaborate finish. The attic above this portion of the design is ele- 

 vated, and fortified with massive inverted consoles, one rising from each 

 portion of the entablature which breaks over the columns below. In each 

 of the three divisions of this attic is a large shield, with foliage, displaying, 

 respectively, the arms of the city, Gresham, and the Mercers. Each extremity 

 of the attic is crowned with a fanciful terminal, bearing the caduceus of 

 commerce, and apparently designed to produce a proper combination with 

 the outline of the tower, which rises from the centre. This important fea- 

 ture, whose practical object is to contain the clock, with an improved chime- 

 apparatus of fifteen bells, is carried to a height of 170 feet from the ground 

 by four successive stages of design, above the general order of the building. 

 In the first or lowest of these its plan is a square, fortified with double but- 

 tress-like piers at the angles, of which the two on the eastern face are made 

 to carry up the perpendiculars of the columns below, so as to produce con- 

 tinuity of line from the ground. This stage of the design is occupied in the 

 east front by a niche, and, in the others by corresponding openings, with 

 architraves and bold keystones, the whole being bounded by a massive cor- 

 nice. The niche is intended for the reception of a colossal statue of Sir 

 Thomas Gresham, from the chisel of Mr. Behnes. The next story of the 

 design exhibits in four aspects the clock. dials, which are nearly nine feet in 

 diameter; it is flanked at each angle by two vases, and is somewhat more 

 broken than the former stage. The next consists of an octagonal lantern 

 pierced with a long ornamental outlet on each alternate face, and fortified 

 anglewise on the remaining four by two columns of a composed order, with 

 their appropriate accompaniments. The fourth and last stage consists of a 

 circular tambour, surrounded by eight consoles, and pierced with outlets in 

 the intervals; the whole carrying the dome, from which is elevated the 

 grasshopper vane rescued from the former building. 



North Facade. 

 We pass on to the north front, which differs in its subdivisions from the 

 south, having, instead of thirteen, fifteen arches of narrower proportion, five 

 of them forming an advanced centre, and the remaining five on each side 

 being carried by rusticated piers without any pilasters. The centre of five 

 arches consists again of three, with recessed divisions in the upper story, 

 flanked by two of a more solid character. In the former, between the arches 

 and the richly decorated windows which surmount them, is a tablet-course 

 bearing three inscriptions: over the entrance the motto of Gresham, in old 

 French, Fortun a my ; to the east, or dexter. Due dirige nos ; and on the 

 west the Honor Deo of the Mercers' Company. The advanced compartment 

 on each side of these central three contains, on a level with the windows, an 

 enriched niche ; that on the east is intended to receive a statue of Sir Richard 

 Whittington, by Mr. Carew, and that on the west a figure of Sir Hugh Myd- 

 delton, by Mr. Joseph. As the upward termination to these portions of the 

 design, the attic is raised to form ornamental groups of ehimnies, faced with 

 carved festoons of fruit and flowers. The three intermediate divisions of 

 this attic follow the recessed lines of the architecture below, and have the 

 piers surmounted by altar-like terminals, carved with the Mercurial caduceus. 

 The wing portions of this front have, above the shop-story of arches, a tier 

 of elaborately composed windows, whose dressings reach the entablature 

 above, an arrangement which is evidently intended to obviate the feebleness 

 of efl^ect that would otherwise result from the absence of pilasters. These 

 wings are terminated by the general balustrade. 



General Remarks on the Exterior. 

 Having thus carried our survey round the exterior of the building, we will 

 briefly otter our opinion that the merit of expression, which we conceded to the 

 west front, maybe justly claimed by the other three; the whole effect is 

 distinctly commercial ; the structure solid, as the representative of British 

 trade, yet ornate, as the centre of our mercantile wealth. This fitness we 

 conceive to constitute tlie first requisite of good design; and we find it in 

 this building not unacconijianied with unity aiul breadth, nor yet destitute of 

 the variety attainable from light and shade. The detail is of a clear and de- 

 cided character, evidently studied with a view to future efl'ect under the dis- 

 colouring hand of time. It is generally original in design, and free from the 

 charge of uninventive repetition. Among otiier points we may notice the 

 windows in the principal story, of which we have counted seven carefully- 

 studied varieties, yet so applied as to avoid any frivolous disturbance of con- 

 tinuity and breadth. M'e could have wished that some of the shops had 

 been dispensed with, so as to have allowed of more spacious entrances 

 to the quadrangle from the north and south sides ; but this we presume was 

 a considertion of rental too powerful for the architect to encounter. A 

 threefold, instead of single external vestibule in these aspects, would have 

 formed an important accession to the efl'ect of the design. The treatment of 

 the tower, considered as a portion of the building, is felicitous, whether as 

 combined with and growing out from the sub-structure, or viewed with re- 

 ference to its outline at various angles of sight. The obstruction of its front 



view from the eastern approaches is a much less misfortune than that which 

 would have arisen from the discordance of outlines, had the tower been 

 placed either in the north or south front ; and to have raised it in the west, 

 behind the portico, would have been in point of character the most fatal of 

 architectural errors. Situated as it is, the tower produces one of its happiest 

 effects as a termination to the vista obtained on approaching the quadrangle 

 by the great western entrance. 



The Merchants' Quadrangle. 



To this portion of the building it is necessary that we should now direct 

 our attention. The Merchants' Quadrangle, of which we have already stated 

 the dimensions, presents to our view an open court, whose length from east 

 (o west, is twice its width. Its height presents us with a composition of two 

 orders — Doric below, and Ionic above, the columns being engaged to the 

 soUds behind, and elevated upon pedestals. Each of these orders compre- 

 hends a line of well-proportioned arches, with appropriate imposts and dress- 

 ings. The arches of the lower tier being open, communicate with the am- 

 bulatory or arcade that surrounds the court; and at the back of this ambula- 

 tory are corresponding divisions of piers with arches deeply recessed. The 

 arches of the upper tier, comprised within the Ionic order, are treated as 

 large curved recesses, enriched with panelling both reticulated and plain, and 

 containing each a window, whose dressings are advanced in a very prominent 

 relief, standing within a carved stone balcony, and finished above with an 

 elaborate and pedimented top, that occupies the head of the great recessed 

 arch. Above this window, in the crown of each arch, is a keystone, forming 

 a liandsome cartouche-shield, charged with the arms of one of the states with 

 which we have commercial intercourse. This is surmounted by the entabla- 

 ture of the order, the cornice of which is of unusually bold projection and 

 detail ; and from this rises the attic, which, with its broken outline of piers 

 and open panelling of playful design, terminates the composition. This de- 

 scription embraces one vertical compartment of the general design ; to com- 

 plete the circuit, it must be understood that on each side of the length of the 

 court there are seven of these compartments with two small ones, and, at 

 each end of the court, three such compartments with two small ones. These 

 smaller compartments, being two at each corner of the quadrangle, have each 

 a rusticated double arch below, and, variously, a window or niche above, 

 surmounted, successively, with a carved festoon and apanel containinga wreath 

 of oak and laurel. An ornamented group of ehimnies terminates the attic 

 over each of these corners. 



We consider the composition of this court eminently successful. It is 

 more imaginative than any of the external design ; the combination of forms 

 is grateful even to the uninitiated eye, while the subdivision and character of 

 detail are calculated to enhance its apparent magnitude. We are only un- 

 certain whether we should not have proposed a greater width of proportion — 

 whether that of three to five, for instance, would not have been preferable to 

 the present of one to two. 



But, we must complete our description of the surrounding ambulatory, by 

 observing that its ceiling is formed on a principle somewhat analogous to 

 that developed in the wooden ceilings to some of our churches of the later 

 Gothic period. Every pier of the arcade has a band or beam crossing over 

 to its neighbour against the opposite wall, which beam is curved down to its 

 springing at each end, and carried by a corbel or console. In the opposite, 

 or longitudinal direction, these beams are intersected by two others, so as to 

 form in each division of the ambulatory one large panel between two narrow 

 ones. Pendants of varied foliage are applied at all points where these beams 

 or bands intersect each other. A similar arrangement is recognized in the 

 pavement, which repeats in party-coloured stone the architectural lines of 

 the ceiling. 



The Encaustic Decoration. 



It is on the ceiling and walls of this ambulatory that the extent of the so- 

 called encaustic painting, of which we have heard, has been executed by, and 

 under the direction of, M. Sang, the artist of Munich. Some notices of the 

 day have proved a verbal description to be of so little use in elucidating mere 

 matters of colour and pictorial device, that we shall abstain from anything 

 more than a very general notice of M. Sang's performance. His object has 

 been to obtain colour by the Raft'aellesque style of decorative design, and in 

 this he has admirably succeeded, displaying a most inventive fancy, great 

 elegance of outline, large resources for the enrichment of purely architectuial 

 members, a perfect knowledge of the harmony and balance of colours, and 

 extreme beauty of execution. Under the advice of the architect, he has 

 maintained the expression of the edifice by the various national heraldic sub- 

 jects, introduced into the leading compartments of the ceiling, while the 

 somewhat minute character of his detail increases the expansivcness of the 

 general architectural effect. Notwithstanding its frequently-questioned ap- 

 propriateness, we are glad to see this class of decoration finding its way into 

 the mart of merchandise ; even there, the loiterer may now become impreg- 

 nated with some of that zeal for art, which shall ultimately vindicate us from 

 the alleged tastelessness of the mere nation lioit/iijuiere. Not that we speak 

 of this mode of embellishment, for a moment, in the same tone that we 

 should adopt towards the highest school of pictorial composition ; but it is 

 still a department well calculated not only to please but to improve the com- 

 mon taste, and quicken the perception of beauty in general. It is, moreover, 

 a department to which English skill has been very 'jttle directed; while on 

 the continent, and especially under the auspices of the King of Bavaria, it 

 has for years been cultivated with great assiduity and success. Hence the 

 difliculty in the present instance, where expedition seems to have been a 



