392 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[November, 



quantity, and at a more elevated temperature than is generally given, there 

 is less dissatisfaction connected with the amount of supply than in any other 

 Tfay. * * » 



Are you aware that frequently peers have been obliged to leave their seats 

 on account of currents of air that came in at the back of the necli ? — I Iiave 

 been informed that they liavc ; and 1 attiihnte this to the conflicting opinions 

 entertained by dilTcrent peers as to the amount of supply required, for the 

 force of these currents can be checked in an instant, to any amount, by the 

 present arrangements, were instructions given to that effect. It frequently 

 happens that the most opposite demands are made at the same moment. I 

 may also he permitted to state, that when the alterations in the House of 

 Lords were introduced I was limited to a given sum before any estimate was 

 made, the committee considering it not desiraljle to expend a larger sum 

 ■when they had the prospect of occupying the new houses in a few years. .\t 

 the time that sum was allowed 1 represented at the Oflicc of Woods that it 

 ■would be desirable to make some addition to it at all events, which was agreed 

 to as 1 represented, as I was afraid 1 should do more barm than good if some 

 increase was not allowed ; but it was impossible with the sum that was 

 jjTanted to put it exactly upon the same fooling as the House of Commons. 



Su|>posing that the committees of the houses of Parliament were to decide 

 against having this great tower or spire, in what way would you then projKJse 

 to conduct the ventilation ? — I should propose under those eircnnistances to 

 retain everything else as it is represented, but to have the moving power here 

 (pointing to the machinery under the central hall) increased to such an extent 

 as to possess an equivalent power to the total discharge of the shaft. In the 

 plan contcmpliited the moving power is proposed to he the shaft, conjoined 

 ■with machinery to be used on particular occasions ; then, if the shaft be dis- 

 pensed with, it woijd be necessary to increase the mo\ iug power. 



Mr. Charles Barry examined. 



You are aware of the plan which has been proposed by Dr. Reid for the 

 purpose of ventilating the new Houses of Parliament, and the buildings gene- 

 rally .' — I am quite aware of it. 



And yon have prepared a plan with reference to it ? — I have. 



Dr. Keid having stated the advantage of a central egress for the air, you 

 lave prepared a drawing of an addition to the building in the centre for that 

 pui'pose ? — I have. 



How high is it to be above the roof of the present building ? — The height 

 above the central hall of the intended building will be 150 feet to the aper- 

 ture beneath the spire. 



Then is all above that solid masonry.' — No ; it would be hollow, and might 

 le pierced for the egress of air. There would be no difilcully in making the 

 spire available for the egress of air, as well as the louver beneath it. 



Would there be any necessity for this addition of the tower for any other 

 purpose tint for the ventilation of the houses ? — There is not any positive ne- 

 cessity for it, except for the purpose of carrying into full effect the proposed 

 system of ventilation. 



But there is no other reason why you would wish to have this additional 

 building? — I cannot say that there is no other reason, because I think that 

 the addition of a tower to the intended building, in the situation and of the 

 form proposed, would enhance considerably the importance and picturesque 

 effect of the mass, and, therefore, upon that account I should be anxious to 

 have it adopted. 



Have you made an estimate, and are you therefore enabled to state what 

 the additional expense would be of the erection proposed for the purpose of 

 Tentilation, independently of the fire-proofing and the apparatus.' — Indepen- 

 dently of the firc-proofihg, the expense of the ventilating tower would be 

 20,000/., of which about 8,000/. or 10,000/. may be considered for external 

 decoration. 



Under any principle of ventilation, supposing several egresses to be made 

 in different parts of the building, it would be equally necessary to have flues 

 for that purpose ? — Certainly. 



Therefore the whole sum of 86,000/. is not fairly attributable to the tower 

 alone .' — Certainly not ; only 20,000/. of that amount is applicable to the 

 tower. 



Therefore the increased expense of the proposed tower, beyond the expense 

 of ventilating by means of several egresses, would be only 20,000/..' — That 

 would he the actual cost of the tower itself; but if Dr. Reid's system of 

 ■warming and ventilating shouM he adopted, the difference in the cost occa- 

 sioned hy the central tower would be about 10,000/., as in case of dispensing 

 ■with it other works would be necessary, the cost of which would be above 

 10,000/. 



That is including the provision of making the whole of the floors fire-proof ? 

 —Yes. The estimate of 86,000/. includes the cost of the works which are 

 necessary to render the entire building fireproof. 



What part of the building was originally intended to be fire-proof? — Tlic 

 vbole of the public rooms of the building were intended to be fire-proof, such 

 as the two houses, the committee rooms, the libraries, &c., as well as the 

 ■whole of the basement and ground floors, but not the olhrial residences. 



Was the roof intended to be fire-proof.' — No; the roof is proposed to be 

 framed of timber in the usual way. 



Is this system of ventilation intended to apply to the of&eial residences as 

 ■well as the committee rooms and the houses themselves .' — 1 understand so. 



ON FRESCO PAINTING. 

 By C. Eastlake, R.A. 



The present German School of Fresco Painters has been formed within 

 the last 25 years. Its first essays, to which I have alluded, were in a great 

 measure the result of a general spirit of imitation which willingly adopted 

 all that was associated with the habits of the latter middle ages. It may be 

 .as well to review the origin and progress of this state of feeling in the present 

 century. The historians of modern German art have indeed traced its rise 

 to earlier influences, lut all agree that the circumstances to which we are 

 about to refer greatly promoted the introduction of a new taste in painting. 



The efforts to create a new style of art, in Germany, iu the beginning o£ 

 the present century, were intimately connected wiih the struggle for political 

 independence. The cathedrals and churches on the Rhine had been more 

 or less desecrated and plundered, and the pictures by the early German mas- 

 ters dispersed and sold. The gradual recovery of these cuded in the for- 

 mation of collections of such works ; this ltd to a higher appreciation of 

 their merits, indulgently seen as they were by patriots anxious to restore ami 

 maintain all that especially characterized tlic German nation. With men 

 thus inspired, the connexion of such feeUngs with the religion of their fore- 

 fathers W.1S obvious. German artists and writers again, who visited Italy, 

 dwelt on the relation that h,nd subsisted between Germany and Italy before 

 and since the revival of letters, not only in politics but in the arts. The 

 Tower at Pisa, the church of St. Francis at .\ssisi, and other buildings, had 

 been erected by Germans, and it was remembered with pride, that the new 

 life of Italy had been kindled chiefly by the genius of the northcni nations. 

 The spirit of the middle ages was thus in a manner revived, and the Germans 

 looked with complacency on that period when the Teutonic nations, unas- 

 sisted (as they assume) by classic examples, produced a characteristic style 

 of architecture, and developed their native feeling iu the arts of design and 

 in poetry. In those ages, architecture, the most necessary of the arts, and 

 therefore the first in date, had time to develop itself fully, especially in the 

 north ; but before painting could unfold itself in an equal degree, the thirst 

 for the revival of classic learning and the imitation of classic models pre- 

 vented the free formation of a Christian and national style. The early speci- 

 mens of art which were most free from this classic influence were thus re- 

 garded with higher veneration, and the Germans of the 19th century boldly 

 proposed to throw aside all classic prejudices, however imposing, and follow 

 up the imperfect beginnings of the latter middle ages in a kindred spirit. 

 This general aim connected the early efforts of Italian art still more with 

 those of Germany, and the German painters who visited Italy, recognized the 

 feeling that inspired them in all works which were supposed to be indepen- 

 dent of a classic influence. 



The degrees in which this spirit has prevailed have naturally varied. With 

 many, the imitation of the earlier masters soon gave place to a juster esti- 

 mate of the general character of the art. The antique has even, to a certain 

 extent, reassunied its empire ; but on the other hand, some of the best Ger- 

 man artists have unflinchingly maintained the general principles above de- 

 scribed, even to the present d,iy; indeed not a few had at first returned to 

 the old faith, and had imbibed with it a still deeper attachment to the spirit 

 of the early painters. 



It is necessary to bear these facts in mind, in order to understand the 

 particular aim which many (perhaps the best) of the German artists have in 

 view. The veneration for the general spirit which prevailed at the revival of 

 art was accompanied by an imitation of the characteristics and even the tech- 

 nical methods of the early painters; the habits and the pr(;ductions of me- 

 diaeval Italy were, as we have seen, easily associated with German feelings, 

 and to this general imitation the adoption of fresco painting is partly to be 

 attributed, though that art was never before practised by the Germans. 

 Fresco painting was, in short, only one of many circumstances which had 

 acquired interest and importance in the eyes of German painters from the 

 above causes. The predilection for the early examples of Christian art did 

 not exclude the study of better specimens created in the same spirit, but the 

 indications of a classic influence were sufficient to condemn the finest works, 

 and hence the later productions of Raphael were not considered fit models 

 for study. 



Let us now consider how far we, as Englishmen, can share these feelings 

 and aims. If the national ardour of the Germans is to be our example, we 

 should dwell on the fact that the arts in England under Henry the Third, in 

 the l.Ttb century, were as much advanced as in Italy itself; that our archi- 

 tecture was even more characteristic and freer from classic influence; tliat 

 sculpture, to judge from Wells Cathedral, bid fair to rival the contemporary 

 efforts in Tuscan)-, and that our painting of the same period might fairly 

 compete with that of Siena and Florence. Specimens of early English paint- 

 ing were lately to be seen — some very important relies still exist on the 

 walls of the edifices at Westminster. The undertaking now proposed might 

 be the more interesting, since, after a lapse of six centuries, it would renew 

 the same style of decoration on the same spot. The painters employed in 

 the time of Henry the Third were Engli>h ; their names are preserved. 

 Thus in doing justice to the jiatriotism of the Germans, the first conviction 

 that would press upon ns would be that our ov.n country and our own 

 English feelings are sufllcient to produce and foster a characteristic style of 

 art; that although we might share much of the spirit of the Germanic na- 

 tions, this spirit would be modified, perhaps refined, by our peculiar habits; 

 above all, we should entirely agree with the Germans in concluding that we 



