1843.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



61 



REVIEWS. 



An Encyclopedia of Architecture, Historical, Theoretical, and Prac- 

 tical. By Joseph Gwilt. Illustrated by more than 1000 engrav- 

 ings on wood. In one thick volume, Svo., 1080 pp. London, 1842. 

 Longman & Co. 



SECOND NOTICE. 



We may resume our notice of this work, by remarking that Mr. 

 Gwilt indulges almost quite as much in criticism upon "critics," as 

 upon buildings, and that as regards the former, he is apt to express 

 himself with a degree of spleen against the whole race, that amounts 

 to want of temper, and which certainly is not calculated to obtain for 

 him their good word. Nevertheless, his present work has obtained 

 unqualified, not to call it outrageous praise, from some of them ; viz., 

 those who write for newspapers, and in whose favour he is henceforth 

 bound to make an exception. Most good-natured they certainly must 

 be allowed to have shown themselves — that is, supposing they looked 

 far enough into his book to meet with some of the ungracious re- 

 flections he has thrown out upon the fraternity of reviewers. Al- 

 though not very thin-skinned ourselves, nor disposed to vindicate the 

 pretensions of all our reviewing brethren, we must say, that Mr. Gwilt 

 carries his hostility too far. He takes it for granted, that none of 

 those who write upon architectural subjects in literary journals, are 

 professional men, or if not belonging to the profession, can have qual- 

 fied themselves by study, for the task they venture upon. Were the 

 " catalogue of works on architecture," which he has given in his En- 

 cyclopaedia, what it ought to be, it would contain many, and those not 

 the least interesting or valuable of all, for which we are indebted to 

 the studies of those whom Mr. G. would have us regard as little 

 better than intruders and pretenders — persons who just know enough 

 of the subject to assume a tone of authority, and mislead others. 

 Since he has not thought proper to insert in that " Catalogue," such 

 works as Hope's History of Architecture, Parker's Glossary, (now 

 considered as a sort of authority,) and the publications of Rickman, 

 Whewell, and Willis — not to mention others, which he has omitted; 

 we must suppose that he estimates them not at all higher than the ef- 

 fusions of anonymous scribblers and reviewers, although they have ob- 

 tained some character not only with the public, but with the profes- 

 sion also. What may be his standard of merit— where he has drawn 

 the line between works that are, and those which are not worthy of 

 being recommended to the student, we are unable to say, for he seems 

 to be just as over-liberal and indulgent in some instances, as he is 

 vigorous in others. Among the publications enumerated under the 

 head of modern English architecture, we do not find the " Public 

 Buildings of London," or Malton's "Picturesque Tour," which last, 

 though not professedly architectural, as it contains only views, is an 

 exceedingly interesting graphic work. Neither are Robert Adam's 

 designs there mentioned, although those of James Lewis, a far less 

 distinguished architect, are. Neither is Barry's "Traveller's Club 

 House" inserted, notwithstanding that both the building itself is con- 

 sidered a tolerably favourable specimen of English architecture at the 

 present day, and is more fully illustrated than almost any other indi- 

 vidual edifice, exceping Holkham. 



That these remarks are rather ungracious, and not likely to prove 

 altogether palatable to Mr. Gwilt, we do not deny ; but many of his 

 own remarks are so exceedingly ungracious and illiberal, that he has 

 do right to look for much forbearance on the part of others. Even 

 while we are willing to give him credit for having the interests of ar- 

 chitecture at heart, we think he has altogether mistaken the way in 

 which they are to be promoted. Instead of expressing any satisfaction 

 at finding that architecture now begins to excite far more attention 

 than it used to do, he takes no pains to conceal his disapprobation of 

 its being taken up as a mere pursuit, by those who do not apply to it 

 professionally; which is almost tantamount to saying, that those who 

 have a taste for the study, have no right to indulge in it, and to ac- 

 quire that knowledge of the art, which is indispensably requisite, if 

 they would really enjoy it, and become capable of judging of its pro- 

 ductions : — which is certainly strange doctrine, and is so completely 

 contrary to all views of sound policy, that, never, it is to be hoped, 

 will it be adopted. Of that, however, we have little apprehension ; 

 were it ever so desirable, it is now too late to attempt to check what 

 is, if not a vapidly advancing, a widely spreading taste. Far more 

 reason is there to apprehend that the prejudices to which Mr. G. has 

 given way, will raise up some prejudice against his own book : at 

 all events, they are not calculated to obtain him good-will. And 

 though on our own part we might have abstained from adverting to 

 this characteristic of his Encyclopaedia, we should have felt that by so 



doing, we were deserting the cause of architecture and its friends, 

 and by our acquiescent silence, abandon manv who have rendered im- 

 portant services to that cause, to the odium attempted to be thrown 

 upon them by Mr. Gwilt. 



To return to the volume itself: the more popular portion of it, 

 namely, the historical, is by no means so full as it ought to be, and 

 might have been, had space been obtained for that purpose, by omit- 

 ing elsewhere a great deal of matter which there was' not the least 

 occasion to introduce at all. Of the architecture of many parts of 

 the Continent, we meet with only hasty sketches, without any spe- 

 cimens of their buildings; and even the historv (if Italian architec- 

 ture is cut short very abruptly, being brought down onlv to the be- 

 ginning of the 17th century, as if the following and the present one 

 had produced nothing of the least note. Yet some mention of Cal- 

 derar and his works, if of no one else, might have been expected, 

 from a professed admirer of the Palladian school, as Mr. G. 



Of a work of this nature, it is hardly possible to convey a suitable 

 idea by extracts or detached passages; nevertheless, we give those in 

 which the characteristics of the Florentine, Roman, and Venetian 

 schools are spoken of, and respectively illustrated by an example. 



" Florentine School. — Climate and the habits of a people are the principal 

 agents in creating real style in architecture ; but these are in a great mea- 

 sure controlled, or it is perhaps more correct to say modified, by the mate- 

 rials which a country supplies. Often, indeed, these latter restrict the ar- 

 chitect, and influence the lightness or massiveness of the style he adopts. 

 The quarries of Tuscany furnish very large blocks of stone, lying so close 

 to the surface that they are without other difficulty than that of carriage 

 obtained, and removed to the spots where they are wanted. This is probably 

 a circumstance which will account for the solidity, monotony, and solem- 

 nity which are such commanding features in the Florentine school ; and 

 which, if we mayjudge from the colossal ruins still existing, similarly prevailed 

 in the buildings of ancient Etruria. In later times another cause contri- 

 buted to the continuation of the practice, and that was the necessity of af- 

 fording places of defence for the upper ranks of society in a state where in- 

 surrection continually occurred. Thus the palaces of the Medici, of the 

 Pitti, of the Strozzi, and of other families, served almost equally for for- 

 tresses as for palaces. The style seems to have interdicted the use of co- 

 lumns in the facade, and on this account the stupendous cornices that were 

 used seem actually necessary for the purpose of imparting grandeur to the 

 composition. In the best and most celebrated examples of their palaces, 

 such as the Strozzi, Pandolfini, and others in Florence, and the Picolomini 

 palace at Sienna, the cornices are proportioned to the whole height of the 

 building considered as an order, notwithstanding the horizontal subdivisions 

 and small interposed cornices that are practised between the base and the 

 crowning member. The courts of these palaces are usually surrounded by 

 columns and arcades, and their interior is scarcely ever indicated by the ex- 

 ternal distribution. From among the extraordinary palaces with which Flo- 

 rence abounds, we place before the reader the exquisite facade of the Pan- 

 dolfini palace, the design whereof (Fig. 1,) is attributed to the divine Raf- 



Fig. 1 



PANnOI-FINl PALACE. 



faelle d'Urbino. In it almost all the requisites of street architecture are dis- 

 played. It is an example wherein the principles of that style arc so ad- 

 mirably developed, as to induce us to recommend it, in conjunction with the 

 facade of the Farnese palace hereafter given, to the elaborate study of the 

 young architect. 



'• Roman School. — Though the city of Rome, during the period of the rise 

 and progress of the Roman school of architecture, was not altogether free- 

 from insurrectionary troubles, its palatial style is far less massive than that 

 of Florence. None of its buildings present the fortress-like appearance of 

 those in the last-named city. Indeed, the Roman palaces, from their grace 

 and lightness, indicate, on the part of the people, habits of a much more 

 pacific nature, and an advancing state of the art, arising from a more inti- 

 mate acquaintance with the models of antiquity which were on every side. 

 The introductions of columns becomes a favourite and pleasing feature, and 

 great care and study appear to have been constantly bestowed on the facades 



