1841.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



41 



UPON THE ARCHITECTURE OF ITALY. 



A Translation of the Observaliojis contaimd in the Preface to M. 



Percier's work, cntiUtd "Palais et Maisons de Rome;" leith some 



Additional Remarks upon that Preface. 



By Arthur Wm. Hakewill. 



The object of the following observations from the pen of M. Piercer 

 was to induce his countrymen to bestow pains upon the smiiUest, as well 

 as upon the most important works, and to anybody conversant with 

 the French modern architecture, it must appear that the architectural 

 productions and writings of that great architect have had tlieir effect, 

 France now being enlivened and beautified by numerous works upon 

 a small scale, carefully and picturesquely designed. M. Percier was 

 the very man to propagate principles with success ; to great talent he 

 united great amiability, and the precepts which he taught made a 

 liisting impression, for they found their way to the minds of his pupils 

 through their hearts, of wliich he had entire possession. He is now 

 lost to France, to which country he has bequeathed a rich legacy, in 

 the numerous skilful architectural productions and sage precepts which 

 he has left, and the name of Percier will be long cherished, not only by a 

 grateful country, but by all those who are sincerely devoted to the 

 art in which he w ho possessed that name so greatly excelled. 



It being constantly a subject of remark, that works upon a small 

 scale in this country do not receive all that care and study so neces- 

 sary to give them their full effect, it would appear that the obser- 

 vations alluded to might be as beneficially applied to England in the 

 present day as they were to France formerly. 



The English architect seems to think that great works alone 

 require great exertion ; it must be confessed that on such occasions 

 he seldom fails to rise to a level with his subject, and Ste. Genevieve 

 at Paris, compared with St. Paul's in London, either in design or con- 

 struction, appears a toy. But it is not an occasional building of this 

 kind that shows a nation fond of architecture, or which tends greatly 

 to the decoration of a country ; these two ends can only be compassed 

 by the architect fairly appreciating the scope of his art, by considering 

 it as an artificial landscape wliich mankind create' to themselves; and 

 therefore endeavouring to bestow on each production, however insig- 

 nificant in size, all that study, care, and attention, of which the subject 

 is susceptible, in order to produce a legitimate variety in his com- 

 positions, and to impart to each work a correct and peculiar character. 

 M. Percier says — 



"Architects, upon their arrival at Rome, for the purpose of studying 

 their art, will naturally bestow their first attention upon the valuable 

 remains of antiquity, upon those imposing masses which, having re- 

 sisted the ravages of time and barbarism, announce to posterity the 

 grandeur and power of the Romans. 



"After this first view, their admiration will be divided between such 

 beautiful monuments and those which either the piety of the Popes, 

 or the magnificence of the Roman princes, gave rise to in the fifteenth 

 century, at the revival of the arts. 



"Drawing and engraving, by multiplying the master-pieces of ancient 

 architecture, have, as it were, laid Rome before the eyes of all ; from 

 the study of these buildings, some men of genius were enabled to de- 

 duce the elementary principles of architecture, they have taught us 

 how to view these buildings and contrast them, whilst, by their own 

 example, they have shown us how very possible it was to make a 

 successful application of those fine models, upon occasions which might 

 seem to offer but little scope for creating interest. 



"This observation has, for a long time, escaped the attention of 

 architects visiting Italy : it was thought that the studies to be made 

 in that beautiful land, could only beuefit artists who had great build- 

 ings to construct, whilst every thing which did not carry with it a 

 certain degree of importance, was to be abandoned to the routine and 

 caprice of workmen. 



" But there are in Italy, and particularly in Rome, a vast number of 

 charming habitations, which, under the most simple forms, bear the 

 stamp of a refined taste, and prove to the attentive architect, that 

 credit may be obtained in bestowing care upon the most humble pro- 

 duction, and this reflection should be a consolation to those who 

 profess an art, in which a very rare combination of fortunate circum- 

 stances can alone furnish the opportunity of being entrusted with the 

 execution of great works. 



" If such men as Bramante, Vignola, Palladio, Sangallo, and Peruzzi, 

 have discovered in antiquity models for the buildings which they 

 have erected, if these successful practitioners of the art have known 

 how to apply, even in their slightest works, such admirable distri- 

 bution, so agreeable an arrangement of parts, that refinement, loo, 



which constitutes the great charm of their works, why should loe not, 

 when similarly circumstanced, endeavour to emulate them? 



" It is with the liveliest feelings of interest that we behold the great 

 artists whom we have just mentioned, bestowing, upon the simple 

 habitation of the citizen, the same degree of spirit, care, and refine- 

 ment of taste, which they have manifested in the erection of temples 

 and sumjituous edifices. They have embellished every thing, and 

 their pencils have thrown a charm over the modest retreat of the 

 philosopher, in no way inferior to that of the palace of the prince. 



"Penetrated with the importance of their art, they have taught us 

 how to rid it of the prejudices of routine and the extravagancies of 

 caprice, they have taught us to take nature for our guide, and her 

 imitators for our models ; and have, in some measure, restored archi- 

 tecture, in bringing back the art to its true intent. We ever perceive 

 them skilfully availing themselves of the peculiarities of the site, and 

 fulfilling, with admirable address, the various requisites of the design. 

 Manifesting ingenuity even in the minutest detail, they never appear 

 to have worked at random ; they seem to have felt that nothing could 

 be considered beautiful in architecture which was not authorized by 

 some recognized utility ; that true genius did not consist, as some 

 moderns have thought, in waging war with reason to create novelties, 

 and produce bizarre ert'ects, but rather in the art of successfullj' apply- 

 ing the means which nature points out, which the site furnishes, and 

 which the work in hand demands. 



"It is in thus fulfilling these conditions that they have succeeded in 

 imparting to each work its proper character, and it is thus that, ever 

 guided by good taste, they have been enabled to make us lose sight 

 even of the very difficulties they had to combat. 



"Indeed, the greater part of their works bear the impress of that 

 rare simplicity which, like some revealed truth, always appears so 

 intelligible to those to whom it is disclosed. 



" Their buildings are picturesque without being confused, possess 

 symmetry but are not monotonous, and being carefully executed, fre- 

 quently unite, to express ourselves in terms of art, the freedom of the 

 sketch with the precision of the more finished performance. 



" We contemplate, with unceasing admiration, the ingenuity displayed 

 in the application of the various materials, such as marble, stone, 

 brick, wood, &c., few examples of which are to be found elsewhere. 



" It must be confessed that hitherto the Italian architects have ex- 

 celled those of other nations. To produce the greatest effect with 

 the most simple means, seems to have been the object of their am- 

 bition ; whereas we, on the contrary, seem to take an opposite aim. 

 It would a|)pear, by the greater part of our modern works, our apart- 

 ments ingeniously circumscribed, our petty distributions, our plaster 

 columns, bronzed wood, and painted marbles, that we delighted in 

 imitation, contenting ourselves with appearances. 



" We will not seek to unveil the real causes of this degradation of 

 the art, we cannot think that it has been brought about through 

 motives of economy ; for it would not be difficult to prove that such 

 imitations, far from being less costly, entail, on the contrary, continual 

 expences, both from the short time they last, as from the enormous 

 prices set upon such works by skilful workmen. 



" We might, perhaps, with regret, pronounce it to be a proof that 

 architecture has never been held in great estimation among us ; for 

 the circumstance of a town containing a temple, a monument, a palace, 

 is no argument that the fine arts have made it their abode ; the ty- 

 ranny, pride, or caprice of a single individual, may, for the moment, 

 have chained them to the spot. But when, at every step, our atten- 

 tion is arrested by some masterpiece of magnificence, or even of sim- 

 plicity : when in every spot we meet with monuments erected for the 

 public good, the minutest detail characterized by that delicacy of taste 

 which proclaims a whole nation to have been cultivators of the fine 

 arts ; then it is that we feel we are in Italy, and that that gifted land 

 has long been their fixed abode. 



" It is in that country alone that the most humble habitation offers to 

 the attentive architect beauties, not very imposing, perhaps, in point 

 of scale, but more immediately adapted to the wants of the community. 

 It is to be observed that the charm of these buildings results from the 

 arrangement of the plan and distribution of the masses, and not to a 

 vain )n'ofusion of ornament. 



" We do not pretend to say that the buildings which we have cited 

 should be servilely copied, nor do we quote them as being entirely 

 free from defects ; we are also aware that our climate, materials, and 

 habits, often prescribe other forms. But still we may safely assert, 

 that by following the method which the Italian architects have pur- 

 sued in their compositions, in considering them relatively to the con- 

 ditions they had to fulfil ; in short, by studying them, an attentive 

 architect will know how to reaii advantage from the light which they 

 throw upon his art." 



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