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TilE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[February, 



tlie nitablalure nixl compleraenfaiy portion of fluted-columned order. 

 I'"ur an instance of sue!) order — altliougli tliere is hardly occasion for 

 pointing to any one in particular wlien tlicy are, unfoilunately, so nu- 

 merous, — we may again refer to tl;e portico of tlie National Gallery, 

 in vvliich the richness aimed at liy the columns and the close intorco- 

 Inmniation, is neutralized by the general poverty of the entablature. 

 The latter may be very well in itself, and suitable enough wliere plain- 

 ness would be a propriety, and in accordance with the rest of the 

 design, but placed as it is in juxta-position with elaborate ornateness, 

 its plainness becomes oftensive meanness, and the whole composition 

 little better than a discordant jumble of conflicting qualities. Almost 

 might it be imagined that Wiikins never saw the portico to which his 

 columns originally belonged, — we mean that of Carlton House, an 

 example which of all others then existing here we could least alTord to 

 spare, it being by very far the most complete, the most perfectly 

 finished up in every respect, (with a liighly enriched frieze and cor- 

 nice,) and being strikingly majestic ana grandiose in its ntstmhle, not 

 a little picturesque withal in its plan, and further distinguished by 

 having inner columns, very differently disposed, however, from those 

 within the portico of the Exchange, they being so jdaccd as to divide 

 oil'that part of the plan which was recessed within the building — and 

 which rendered the whole portico very nearly as deep as it was wide 

 —as a sort of pronaos or inner loggia, whose floor was on a higher 

 level, there being a flight of steps up to it, which last circumstance 

 contributed not a little to picturesque variety. Still, one sad draw- 

 back there was, upon all this assemblage of architectural pomp and 

 beauty, one, however, which did not accu«e Holland of either negli- 

 gence or want of taste, it arising solely from architectural correctness 

 being made to give way to convenience, for in order to render the 

 portico "practicabh" for carriages, instead of its being made 

 triprcstyle, or with three intercolumns on its flanks, as it else would 

 have been of course, two of the intercolurani were laid into one, 

 thereby producing the disagreeable appearance of a wide gap, as if a 

 column bad actually been taken away from each of those sides. The 

 convenience was imdoubtedly very great, yet dearly purchased ; and 

 the only tiling that could reconcile the eye to such defect, was that 

 the interior of the portico was more exposed to view. After all, the 

 portico of Carlton House— though hardly ever mentioned, while that 

 of St. Martin's church continues to be cried up, even at the present 

 day, as a sort of prodigy, at least as perfection — was the finest example 

 of its kind we had,= unrivalled, until now in some respects surpassed 

 by that of the new Royal Exchange. 



Resuming our remarks upon tins last, we venture to give it as our 

 opinion that it world not have been amiss to try the effect of a little 

 polychromatic decoration within the portico, if only by way of expe- 

 riment, and at first with colours that might have been easily expunged 

 in case of the result proving unsatisfactory. Painting cf the kind in 

 that situation would be equally protected from the weather, and stand 

 just as well as within the ambulatories around the open area. Intro- 

 duced into the portico^ — not that we wish to have seen it there — after 

 just the same fashion, and to the same extent and degree, polychroray 

 would have been a more decided novelty in itself, and also appro- 

 priately characteristic of the particular building, as announcing in the 

 principal entrance to it the style of decoration adopted for the public 

 part of the interior. Nay, the effect of colour within the portico 

 might be tried with the greatest facility and without the slightest hazard 

 tliere being a model of that part of the building upon a sufficiently 

 large scale for an experiment of the kind, or a still larger one might, 

 if necessary, be prepared for the purpose. It would bo a futile ob- 

 jection to say that it is now altogether too late to think of such addi- 

 tional finish to the portico, since it is of a kind that might still be ap- 

 plied, should previous experiment justify its being attempted, the 

 o/ily other consideration being that of extra cost, an exceedingly 

 trifling one with the citizens, if we may judge by the alacrity with 

 which they expended their money upon temporary decorations, and 

 the fittings-up for one day that were meant to be puUings-down the 

 next. 



All that we desiderate further for the exterior of the portico is two 

 statues for the pedestals that close the ends of the flight of steps. So 

 placed, they also would be a novelty, for we know of no instance in 

 this country where figures of the kind are introduced after that man- 

 ner as accompaniments to a portico, and so far more effectively than 



2 We might seem to be altogether ignoract of the existence of such an acquisition to 

 the portico clnsB as is that of Ilie Fitzwilliam fliuseum, Cambridge,— so capacious in its 

 Interior, and picturesque in its arrangement, — were we to pass it byentireiy, but tliismere 

 mention of it thus in a corner must suffice on the present occasion. 



3 We liave seen it mentioned that the frescoes within the colonnade of the Berlin Mu- 

 seum were ** inaugurated** on the 15th of October last, but without the sli htest remark 

 as to the effect produced by them, on the architecture, or to Inform us whether the range 

 of Ionic columns In front is at all improved or not in appearance by such pictorial Ijack- 

 ground to them. 



when placed on the acroferia of a pediment, where as statues they 

 cannot be properly seen, but show little better than so many oddly 

 shaped pinnacles. Put in advance of the portico, statues would in- 

 crease the general stateliness of its appearance, and combining in 

 perspective with the columns would produce a very unusual degree of 

 picturesque richness. Of the portico we may now at length take our 

 leave, with the remark that the sculpture is of more value as an ac- 

 cessory to and filling up of the architecture, than for any particular 

 merit as a work of art. 



The other elevations of the exterior will not detain us so long, for 

 instead of speaking of them sepaiafely, we shall make a few general 

 observations suffice for all. And looking at them we cannot but regret 

 that it was deemed expedient to incorporate shops with such a struc- 

 ture, — a regret in which the architect himself, no doubt, sincerely 

 joins us. We do not so much object to them on the score of their 

 being shops for retail business, and in such capacity beneath tlie 

 dignity of a Palace of Commerce, as because they cut up the archi- 

 tecture, destroy all breadth and repose, cause the lower part of the 

 structure to appear too slender and weak, and the upper to luok more 

 massive and heavy than it otherwise would, and all the more so 

 because the shop fronts are, almost of necessity, in a light and what 

 may almost be called a fragile style. We think, therefore, that the 

 building showed itself ratlier to advantage than not, in the interim 

 between the scaffolding being taken down and the hoardings removed, 

 when only the upper half was visible. There is hardly any appear- 

 ance of piers at all to the arches, merely strips on each side between 

 the arcades and the pilasters, consequently the whole of the lower 

 pait has the look of being crowded and squeezed up, more so, perhaps, 

 than would have beon the case had the pilasters been omitted and the 

 piers unencumbered. Had it been possible not only to get rid of the 

 shops, but to dispense with windows altogether on the ground floor, 

 making the lower parts solid masonry with jointed rustics, — as is 

 actually done in the Royal Exchange at Dublin, the general character 

 of these elevations would have been incomparably superior to what it 

 is at present, and withal, markedly distinct from anything we now 

 have. At all events, shop windows might surely have been omitted 

 in those curved portions of the exterior which connect the north and 

 south sides with the east end ; for arches on a curved plan have any« 

 thing but an agreeable efl'ect or appearance of strength. 



If these strictures amount to rather serious dissatisfaction we cannot 

 help it ; our censure must be taken along with our praise, or if the 

 latter be not worth having the other may stand for nothing. As soon, 

 however, as we get over the shops, we can resume our benignity, and 

 speak in favour of the upper portions of the elevations, without going 

 against the grain of our critical conscience. Here there is certainly 

 no lack of ornament, for it is indulged in even to profusion as regards 

 the windows; but when we say "to profusion," we do not therefore 

 mejn to faulty excess. It is something to find that windows can be made 

 to take a far more decided and important part in architectural design 

 than they have hitherto been allowed to do : and that instead of being 

 made to look as if they were ashamed of showing themselves at all 

 they here display themselves in peculiar "bravery." We have heard 

 them compared to picture frames — one of that cheap sort of compa- 

 risons which are employed from lack of critical argument — but we 

 have yet to learn what it is that constitutes that particular, and of 

 course very discreditable resemblance. If we are to judge by com- 

 parisons and resemblances, we might with quite as much truth and 

 propriety say of the windows wdiich our ultra-Greek architects ex- 

 liibit, that they too resemble frames — not indeed picture frames, but 

 the straining frames on which picture canvasses are stretched, they 

 being about as plain and free from all ornament. The windows of 

 the Royal Exchange manifest considerable study of detail, ability of 

 invention, and diversity of design, far more of them all three than 

 one of the notables in the profession has expended upon all the build- 

 ings he ha.s erected, and they are surprisingly many, when we consider 

 how small his practice would have been had it depended chiefly upon 

 his talent, which has procured for him no more flattering distinction 

 than the epithets of "Machine" and "Milk-and-Water," the ideal of 

 respectable and intolerable mediocrity. We wish that lie could be 

 exchanged — for any body else, or if for nothing it would still be a 

 bargain. 



We own that the windows, and some of the other decorations of the 

 Exchange, are calculated to horrify architectural precisians and 

 puritans, — those who eschew all innovation as contagion, and denounce 

 as illegitimate whatever deviates from their own formal rules for 

 producing frigid insipidity. We leave to others to enter into logo- 

 machies as fierce as they are finical about mere names and words, for 

 we are always ready to accept as legitimate in art that which is me- 

 ritorious anti satisfactory in itself, and if it comes to us without pro- 

 ducing a licence from precedent, we welcome it all the niort; as an 



