The Gallery of Portraits: with Memoirs. Volume 1 (of 7)Malkin, Arthur Thomas
History
The Gallery of Portraits: with Memoirs. Volume 1 (of 7)
Malkin, Arthur Thomas
Biography
The other architectural works which he designed and executed during this
period, both in London and elsewhere, are far too numerous to be
mentioned in detail. Among them were the parish church of St. Bride, in
Fleet Street, which was finished in 1680, and the beautiful spire of
which, originally two hundred and thirty-four feet in height, has been
deemed to rival that of St. Mary-le-Bow; the church of St. James,
Westminster, finished in 1683, a building in almost all its parts not
more remarkable for its beauty than for its scientific construction; and
of which the roof especially, both for its strength and elegance, and
for its adaptation to the distinct conveyance of sound, has been
reckoned a singularly happy triumph of art; and the church of St.
Andrew, Holborn, a fine specimen of a commodious and an imposing
interior: besides many others of inferior note. In 1696 he commenced the
building of the present Hospital at Greenwich, of which he lived to
complete the greater part. This is undoubtedly one of the most splendid
erections of our great architect. Among his less successful works may be
enumerated Chelsea Hospital, begun in 1682, and finished in 1690, a
plain, but not an inelegant building; his additions to the Palace of
Hampton Court, carried on from 1690 to 1694, which are certainly not in
the best taste; and his repairs at Westminster Abbey, of which he was
appointed Surveyor-General in 1698. In his attempt to restore and
complete this venerable edifice, his ignorance of the principles of the
Gothic style, and his want of taste for its peculiar beauties, made him
fail perhaps more egregiously than on any other occasion. In 1679 he
completed the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge, one of the most
magnificent of his works; and in 1683, the Chapel of Queen’s College,
and the Ashmolean Museum, at Oxford. The same year he began the erection
of the extensive pile of Winchester Castle, originally intended for a
royal palace, but now used as a military barrack. To these works are to
be added a long list of halls for the city companies, and other public
buildings, as well as a considerable number of private edifices. Among
the latter was Marlborough House, Pall-Mall. Indeed scarcely a building
of importance was undertaken during this long period which he was not
called upon to design or superintend. The activity both of mind and body
must have been extraordinary, which enabled him to accomplish what he
did, not to speak of the ready and fertile ingenuity, and the
inexhaustible sources of invention and science he must have possessed,
to meet the incessant demands that were made for new and varying
displays of his contriving skill. It appears, too, in addition to all
this, that the duties imposed upon him by his place of Surveyor of
Public Works, for which he only received a salary of £100 a year, were
of an extremely harassing description, and must have consumed a great
deal of his time. Claims and disputes as to rights of property, and
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