Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Saint Paul: An Account of the Old and New Buildings with a Short Historical SketchDimock, Arthur
History
Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Saint Paul: An Account of the Old and New Buildings with a Short Historical Sketch
Dimock, Arthur
St. Paul's Cathedral (London, England)
The clergy and others wanted something with more resemblance to the
old cathedrals; and first of all the surveyor tried to humour them by
adding another secondary dome to the west. He next set to work making
a great number of sketches, merely, as his grandson says, for
"Discource sake"; and one of these was so much approved of that a
model was again made. But the demand for a building with choir, nave,
and aisles complete continued, and required to be satisfied; and at
length one design met with the approval of the king; and on the 14th
of May, 1675, Charles issued his warrant to the commissioners
accordingly, stating that he approved of this particular design
because it was "very artificial, proper, and useful," and could be
built by parts, and that his commissioners were to begin at once with
"the East-end or Quire."
Wren had already become disgusted with the impediments and delays
caused by incompetent judges, and had determined to discontinue making
his drawings and plans public.[64]
We shall never know all that took place during the building so as to
be able to account for the deviations from this design. The king gave
the surveyor permission to make alterations "rather ornamental than
essential," and left the whole to his management, so that the royal
commission was chiefly employed as treasurers. But even this scarcely
explains the great alterations made. The drum and dome of the design,
of comparatively modest dimensions, are crowned with a minaret-like
spire. The west front has but one order of columns, and the towers are
insignificant to a degree. These are amongst the features which were
altered, and they were "essential" as distinct from "ornamental." We
know that Wren developed as his experience was enlarged; and we know
also that certain alterations were made contrary to his wish. Beyond
this we are lost in conjecture at the poverty of his design. Perhaps,
despising the taste of the commissioners, he never seriously intended
to adhere to it, anticipating he would be his own master.
[Illustration: THE "WARRANT" DESIGN.
_From a drawing in All Souls' College, Oxford. Reproduced from
Blomfield's "Renaissance Architecture."_]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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