13U 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[May, 



of a fafude, thp correct eTpression would be its icii/tft— causes that build- 

 ing to look lower than it otherwise would do. 



The Fitzwilliara fajade, on the contrary, presents itself to the eye as a 

 whole, sufficiently consistent and compact, without too moch of mere re- 

 petition of parts ; and the lateral extension of the portico, in immediate 

 connection with the octastyle, produces a peculiar richness of columniation 

 thai instead of being increased, would rather hare been impaired had those 

 parts been carried on further so as to be equal to or wider than the octa- 

 style itself, because in such case the arrangement would have resolved 

 ilselfinlothe somewhat hackneyed one of a portico between wingcolouuades. 

 There is indeed one fault — or if it be not positively a fault, it is what 

 might have been managed gn ally for the better, as in our opinion it de- 

 cidedly would have been, had insulated square pillars been substituted for 

 the t»vo columns behind the eitreme ones of the prostyle, (which alteration 

 together with the further one of pilasters, instead of attached columns, we 

 have made in the sinister half of the ground plan). A square instead of a 

 circular shaft at those re-entering angles would not only have produced the 

 appearance of greater solidity, but have conformed better with the junction 

 of the enlablalures uniting at right angles. Another advantage gained 

 would have been that of increased variety, and the other columns would 

 have told all the more forcibly in consequence of the contrast so produced. 

 Neither could it by any means have been called a caprice, or have been 

 said to have been done for the mere sake of novelty, the motive for it being 

 sufficiently obvious and legitimate. Bather would there have been a de- 

 cided expression of intention, inasmuch as those two pillars or pilaster- 

 piers would have plainly demarcated the three divisions of the general 

 colonnade, whereas it now looks as if the architect had at first intended to 

 carry it in a single line the whole way, and afterwards thought of breaking 

 it, by advancing an octastyle crowned by a pediment. There would be- 

 sides have been more of unity of design in one respect, because each of the 

 lateral divisions would have been in antis, and the composition would 

 thereby have gained in distinctness of articulation.* 



It deserves to be remarked that though the shafts of the columns are 

 plain, the pilasters are fluted — quite contrary to Grecian practice, in which 

 a similar degree of contrast and distinction was produced by a precisely 

 reverse mode of treatment ; while in the Roman and modern styles the 

 principle of uniformity has generally been followed, and columns and 

 pilasters made, either plain or fluted, alike. Each of the three modes has 

 something to recommend it, and it may therefore be left to circumstances 

 to determine which is best suited to the particular design or occasion. In 

 support of that here adopted, it may be argued that the principle of con- 

 trast being assumed, there is very sufficient reason for bestowing what consti- 

 tutes it upon that which most requires it. Although left quite plain, the 

 shafts of insulated columns always express themselves to the eye with suf- 

 ficent distinctness ; whereas, the faces of pilasters upon a wall require 

 something to distinguish them from the general surface, without which they 

 show themselves very feebly, and chiefly in their capitals and bases, which 

 thereby become spots. The requisite difference of surface between that of 

 the wall and the pilaster faces, is hardly to be obtained except by 

 one of two modes, that of rusticating or showing the joints iVappareil of 

 the wall, or fluting the pilasters, which thereby acquire richness as well as 

 distinction, and are made, in artistical phrase, to " hold colour." Differ- 

 ence of application demands didereuce of treatment ; the Greeks employed 

 pilasters merely as antae at an angle of a building, or at the ends of the 

 side walls inclosiug a portico in antis, where they exhibit themselves not 

 only plainly but forcibly ; whereas, as decoration upon a wall, pilasters 

 require to be relieved from it. In the building under notice this is done 

 by fluting them,t notwithstanding that the shafts of the columns are plain, 

 wherefore it may be thought that, in comparison with the latter, an undue 



* In the portico of the Hoyal Institution at Manchester, which we might have before 

 observerl Iti bo very similar in composition to that of the Fitzwilliam Museum, that the 

 idea of the latter seems to be derived from It, Barry has hoUlIy detined the junction of the 

 lateral lot^giaa and proalyle, the point ol union beini; a pier, whose solidity is increased by 

 anise pilasters b;icklng the extreme columns of the prostvle (an Ionic hexastyle) and 

 flanking tliuse of the loggias. That building may therefore be quoted as affording an ex- 

 ample of picturesque combination, and a highly favourable exception to the equally in- 

 sipid and common-place things constituting the majority of the class. We regret that 

 having no plan ot li, we are unable to say bow far in that respect it differs from or is 

 interior to the Fitzwilliam. 



t Barry, who has true artistic feeling for effect and finish of detail, has fluted — and, no 

 doubt, with reason to himself for what ho was doing — the pilasters to the windows in 

 both fronts of the 'i'ravellers' Cluli House. Apr poa to which we m.iy observe that we 

 dissent trom the opinion which has passed unqualified condemnation on the practice of 

 decorating windows with columns, pilasters, and pediments. U'e cannot pretend to 

 Justify the propriety of it here in a note, therefore content ourse'ves with remarking for 

 the present, that if it be contrary to sound architectonic principle, we must abate our 

 admiration of Ooth'c, in which nearly all the minor features and decoratloti in general are 

 made up of forms borrowed trum and repeating those of the principal members of the 

 structure. 



degree of decoration is bestowed upon the pilasters ; yet, independently 

 of the reasons already alleged for it, the greater richness conferred on the 

 pilasters is no more than what serves to equalize them in importance with 

 the columns. .Still it strikes us that in this instance a very good though 

 unusual effect might have been produced by fluting some of the columns, 

 viz , the eight in front beneath the pediment, whereby the octastyle would 

 have been distinguished from the rest of the colonnading, and the columns 

 in that division of it would have been decorated in accordance with the 

 pilasters at the extremities. Nay there is direct precedent for the combi- 

 nation of fluted or plain columns, not only in the same design but almost 

 in juxta-position with each other, namely, in the beautiful loggia forming 

 tke north-west angle of the Hank, — a composition distinguished by pictu- 

 resque effect of the most striking and sterling kind. 



The portico of the Fitzwilliam Museum exhibits kindred taste — some 

 of the best quality of that work of Soane's, without the tincture of Soane- 

 anism. It is full of perspective effect, mainly produced by arrangement of 

 plan, which, though apparently complex, is not at all tovrmeuti ; on the 

 contrary, exceedingly simple, it being in three divisions in both directions, 

 i.e., upon both the longitudinal and transverse section, through the portico. 

 The first gives us the body of the portico and the two lateral colonnades ; 

 the other, the projecting octastyle, the lateral colonnades, prolonged to ao 

 avenue extending through the building parallel to its front, and the re- 

 cessed portion corresponding with the projecting one. It is this beautiful 

 combination of plan, in which regularity and variety, harmony and con- 

 trast, are all united, which constitutes the surpassing merit of this portico. 

 Its external design is the least part of its merit; and even in regard to 

 plan, it would have been of a superior kind even had it been less perfect, 

 complete, and symmetrical than it now is. Do away with either the pro- 

 jecting or recessed portion of it, and it would lose half its peculiar charm ; 

 or had the colonnades terminated against the masses which form the ex- 

 tremities of the elevation, or else been continued by another open inter- 

 column instead of a closed one, while the facade itself would have been 

 impaired, two most charming effects would have been entirely lost, viz., 

 those of vista, whether as seen from end to end on approaching by one of 

 the side entrances, or on entering through the octastyle in front, when that 

 transept suddenly reveals in the most captivating manner. The promise 

 made by the exterior is found to be more than fulfilled by the interior of 

 the portico, which is, in fact, so replete with effect as to be all picture, and 

 at every step some fiesh combination of perspective lines and of light and 

 shade is produced : no single view, even were it the very best that could 

 be selected for giving some general idea of it, could do more than convey 

 an imperfect because necessarily a very partial and limited one. However, 

 we should have been glad of even something of the kind in the " Memo- , 

 rials of Cambridge," where it would have formed a most interesting illus- 

 tration; whereas only the fa9ade is shown, and that in such manner that 

 the effect attending the interior is very poorly expressed. Still in one 

 respect the Fitzwilliam Museum has been more honoured in that work 

 than any other structure in the University, it being almost the only one on 

 which anything like satisfactory architectural description is there bestowed. 

 Possibly this may have been in some measure owing to there being nothing 

 but the building itself to speak of, — no ready-made history, or history at 

 all, belonging to it ; and perhaps it was considered indecent to make the 

 article a mere peg for hanging Earl Fitzwilliam upon it in eliigy, alias in 

 memoir. 



If our remarks have been somewhat in extenso—aoi, we hope, prosingly 

 prolix — we are not likely to be equally diffuse again in a hurry on a simi- 

 lar subject. Very few things indeed of the kiud afford aught for either 

 description or comment. Our modern Anglo-Grecian and Uomao porti- 

 coes are, for the most part, the merest architectural humdrum imaginable. 

 We may fairly apply to them what Pope said of women, namely, that they 

 "have no character at all;" though book-makers and guide-books are 

 ready enough to extol every " four-posted" production as " a fine portico!" 



In conclusion, we may express the hope that the gentleman to whom the 

 completion of the Fitzwilliam Museum has been confided since its archi- 

 tect's death will adhere to his intentions, for be is not very likely, we con- 

 ceive, to improve upon them. Most assuredly, he has oever yet conceived 

 anything at all comparable to that facade and portico. 



