artist. The physical needs for the fulfilment of his ideas
are so great that, should no occasion arise, in all likelihood his full power as a builder may never be realised. Without a great occasion England might never have known that she had in Sir Christopher Wren one of the great geniuses of archi- tecture. But the occasion presented itself. The Great Fire of 1666 swept away not only the Cathedral of London, but fifty or sixty of its parish churches as well. By this circum- stance Wren, instead of wasting his genius upon patching up the crumbling structure of Old St. Paul's, was called upon to create the new cathedral, and to group round it those smaller churches which give such ample proof of the endless fertility of his mind. Wren was the son of a Dean of Windsor, who was an amateur architect and scientific inquirer. At Oxford Wren became remarkable, Evelyn writing of him as "that rare and early prodigy of universal science." All branches of science seem to have been studied by him, from the higber mathematics to the microscopic investigation of insects. In astronomy he became Savilian Professor at Oxford, and also held a like post at Gresham College, in London. It is asserted that, with his friend Boyle, he first used the barometer. But, besides being a man of science, he was something more,—he was a great artist. He possessed that gift which made mathematical proportion and mechanical structure blossom with the perfect flower of beauty.
Mr. Birch, in a large volume finely illustrated with plates reproduced from photographs taken by Mr. Latham, gives a most valuable account not only of Wren's work, but of that of two of his followers. The surprising industry of Wren appears in the following enumeration of his works :—
" These churches of Wren may be roughly grouped into five distinct types ; first, the basilican, of which there are eighteen, and which have the nave and aisles, with towers, generally at the west end of the nave, but occasionally at the north-west or south-west corner; secondly, the plain parallelo- gram with one aisle, either on the north or south, of which type there are seven ; thirdly, the plain parallelogram without aisles, of which there are thirteen ; fourthly, those in which the principal of the dome predominates, of which there are six ; and, fifthly, the Greek cross, of which there are three. But in no single case are these plans copies of one another. There is a dis- tinct individuality about each ; local considerations of site, relation to leading thoroughfares, the position from which the tower and spire could best be seen, were all points which he carefully con- sidered. The internal fittings were of the best; the oak used for the seating and panelling was well selected, the plaster work rich and varied, and the carving admirably executed."
Of these forty-seven churches Wren built in London, eight have perished,—one by fire, the rest wantonly destroyed for the sake of improvements and building sites. It is generally to be noticed that when a street is about to be widened a church is selected to be pulled down, never the bank opposite. We have said that the great fire was Wren's opportunity. That he knew it to be so is proved by the fact that he at once set about to make a plan for rebuilding the city. This plan is described as providing fine streets and splendid quays, care being taken that picturesque variety should not be lost. But private ownership intervened, preferring chaotic individuality to organic design.
Mr. Birch gives a curious account of the different plans made by Wren for St. Paul's. Like Michelangelo, he wished his building to be a Greek cross. But the ecclesiastical authorities desired that the old form of cathedral should be preserved. The second design was then made, and the King gave his sanction to it, allowing Wren " liberty " to depart from it in details but not in essentials. The second plan was not as good as the first ; the exterior, according to Mr. Birch, would have been an architectural failure,— a flat mushroom-like dome squatting on a long low building. Fortunately Wren interpreted his "liberty" very broadly, and out of this second design evolved the splendid structure
• (1.) London Churches of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries : Inigo Jones. Sir Christopher Wren, Nicholas Rawksmoor, and James Gibbs. By George H. Birch, P.6.A. London B. T. Batsford.—(2.) London City Churches. By A. E. Daniell. London: Comtable and Co.--(3.) The Trinity Hospital in Mile End r an Object-Lesson in National History. By C. H. Ashbee, M.A., Architect. London : The Guild and :School of Handicraft. now existing. To compare St. Paul's with St. Peter's is inevitable, and the result of the comparison must always be the same. St. Paul's, from the fact that it had one designer and not a number, produces that effect of unity which its great rival does not. In one part St. Peter's can claim superiority. The carve of Michelangelo's dome certainly surpasses Wren's in subtle beauty. When we look at St. Peter's from somewhere between the Zecca and the Vatican, and see the cupola unencumbered by Carlo Maderno's facade, it is impossible not to feel that there is in its curves something beyond the beauty of Wren's creation. May it not have been that Michelangelo's profound know- ledge of the mysteries of the curves of the human form enabled him to bend the line of his dome to a more faultless curve than was possible to any mere architect. In describing the interior of the cathedral, Mr. Birch speaks with approval of the new reredos. With this approval the present writer cannot agree. By contrast with the plain stone of the building, the rich marbles look merely tawdry, not splendid, while purists hint that the style is chronologically incom- patible with the main work.
Mr. Birch gives accounts, with illustrations and plans, of Wren's London churches. On looking at them one is struck by the extraordinary beauty and originality of the steeples he designed. In no other classical buildings has so much use been made of this essentially Gothie feature of church architecture. No spire could be more graceful than the tower of St. Mary-le-Bow. The art is consummate by which the eye is carried up by means- of the curved ornaments at the top of the square tower to the graceful colonnade above, then up again by the flying buttresses, also curved, to a second and smaller colonnade, above which another tier of buttresses lead to the sloping obelisk-like top. This tower is only one among a number equally beautiful, and nowhere is the originality of Wren's genius more seen than in these wonderful steeples.
We must refer our readers to Mr. Birch's book for am account of the work of Wren's pupils, as well as for a desorip- tion of Inigo Jones's interesting transition church, SL Katherine Cree, in which he combined classic columns and arlhes with Gothic windows and a groined roof, the instinct of the artist making the combination beautiful. All who admire the genius of Wren will be grateful to Mr. Birch for this folio volume, with its fine photographic plates and clearly conveyed information. The printing and paper are excellent, as are the small drawings of details and plans embedded in the text.
Mr. A. E. Daniell, in a small volume giving a large amount of information excellently arranged about all the City churches, tells us that no less than fifteen of Wren's churches have been destroyed, the Bank of England and the Royal Exchange being among the destroyers. The nation, with equal indifference, trains students in its schools of art, and. permits the destruction of those models on which in particu- lar branches its teaching must be founded.
Mr. Ashbee's description of the Trinity Hospital in Mile End is a curious contribution to the histories of Corporations. An interesting account is given of the connection of the Trinity House and the Navy; also the question of the probability of Wren being the architect of the hospital. The evidence is internal, but Mr. Ashbee's not impossible conclusion is that Evelyn suggested and Wren carried out the present building. This interesting study, with its numerous illustrations, is proof, if proof were wanted, that the Charity Commissioners were right in not letting this place be destroyed. All the arguments for its destruction would apply to a proposal for destroying St. Paul's. The Trinity Brethren argued that to sell the hospital would be to increase the funds of the charity. The funds of the Church would be increased by selling St. Paul's.
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