298 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. September, 



WINDMILL IN WARWICKSHIRE. 



By Inigo JuNts. 



1!f! f.rf.ncf. to Mouldings. 

 A, Cornice, top of mill. B, Moulding to window head. C, Impost moulding of piers 

 mouldings of piers. E, String course above arches. 



D, Base 

 F, Archivolt or arch moulding. 



A true master mind is to be recognized not only by its great works, 

 but by its slightest and least important attempts. In particular to the 

 artist should apply the motto, Nihil quod teligit non ornaril, the same 

 general principles of taste regulate details as regulate a grand design. 

 We certainly must confess that some of our prominent examples of 

 architectural proficiency recognize this rule, but on opposite grounds; 

 with them the same frigidity and the same slovenliness prevail in a 

 palace as in a workhouse, and the same absence of art is to be recog- 

 nized in each. We do not mean this; on the contrary, we want to 

 see the true artist exhibit himself in every performance, for negligence 

 in details can scarcely ever accompany the grand in design ; in fact, 

 we have ever found that master minds were those of the most ex- 

 tended information as to minutiae. The mind of Michael Augelo took 

 in the whole range of art in all its variety of practical manipulations ; 

 Napoleon and Wellington, in the midst of their vastest schemes of 

 conquest, knew how many pairs of horses' shoes each trooper had in 

 reserve, and how they ought to be made ; Homer and Shakspere 

 have shown the greatest acuteness of observation in whatever affected 

 their compositions. Is it to be supposed that those possessing such 

 powers of observation, and exercising them so constantly, would con- 

 sider it worthy ol them to sloven over the details of their own profes- 

 sion ? Architects and architects' employers, we are sorry to say, too 

 often think otherwise, the mens divinwr is some cabalistic idol only 

 to be brought forward at jubilees, or in times of some public excite- 



ment, not to be exerted and exhibited on every occasion. Such was 

 not the feeling of our Greek, our mediaeval masters ; the Athenian 

 vase, the tomb, the weapon, at once reveal their classic origin ; the 

 smallest works of the middle ages show how deeply rooted was the 

 love of art, the same in the least piece of church furniture as in the 

 glorious pageant of the minster itself. Such was not the feeling of 

 our own great masters ; the works of Inigo Jones and Christopher 

 Wren afford as many points of study in their details as in their gene- 

 ral aspect. Above we have given a representation of a windmill ' by 

 the former of these eminent men, a design showing how well he could 

 bring his resources to bear on what is generally considered such an 

 ephemeral and trivial occasion for their exercise. This work is in 

 Warwickshire, and it will be seen that the mill is raised on a base- 

 ment of six arches, which contains the mill stairs. The cornice at the 

 top of the mill, the impost moulding of the piers, the base moulding 

 of tne same, the string course above the arches, and the archivolts, 

 show that he has not been negligent of due and effective ornament. 

 It is a study which many of the present day may contemplate with 

 advantage. Simple yet ornate, not exaggerated in character, not 

 overstepping the modest bounds of proprietv, and yet giving a pictu- 

 resque contour well adapted to the situation in which the object is 

 placed. 



' For this engraving we are indebted to our comempjrary, the Builder. 



