Page:A history of architecture on the comparative method for the student, craftsman, and amateur.djvu/650

 592 COMPARATIVE ARCHITECTURE. THE CLASSIC SCHOOL. Sir Robert Smirke (1780-1867), a pupil of Sir John Soane : The British Museum (1823-1847) (in which remark the application of the usL4ess but grandeur-giving porticos to public buildings) ; General Post Office ; King's Col- lege, London (1831). George Basevi (1795-1845), a pupil of Sir John Soane, erected Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambs. Decimns Burton (i 800-1 881) : Screen at Hyde Park Corner in 1824; Athenaeum Club, Pall Mall, and United Service Club, Pali Mall. H. L. Elmes (1815-1847) : S. George's Hall, Liverpool, won in competition, is the most perfect design of the Classic School, the main hall recalling the Roman Thermae (page 144). Externally a colonnade and portico design is handled with great effect. On the death of Elmes, Prof .Cockerell com- pleted the decoration of the interior. The vault was executed in hollow tiles by Sir Robert Rawlinson, SirW. Tite (1798-1873): Royal Exchange, London. Prof. C. R. Cockerell, R.A. (1788- i863),travelledmuchin Greece and Italy, and pubUshed "The Greek Temples of /Egina and Bassae." He erected theTaylorand and Ran- dolph Institute, Oxford ; the Sun Fire Office, Threadneedle Street, London (recently altered) ; Banks of England at Manchester, Bris- tol, and Liverpool ; and Han- over Chapel, Regent Street (1825) (lately demolished). Sir Charles Barry (1795-1860) travelled extensively in Egypt, Greece, and Italy. He abandoned the fashion of useless porticos, and brought in the " astylar " treatment of design. The Travel- lers' Club, Pall Mall, shows the influence of the Pandolfini Palace, Florence, and was followed by the Reform Club, Pall Mall, a design inspired by the Farnese Palace, Rome. In Bridgewater House, the THE GOTHIC SCHOOL. Augustus Well)y Northmore Pugin (18 1 2- 1852), from being employed upon his father's books of mediaeval architecture, acquired an extraordinary knowledge of the style. He published a rousing pamphlet contrasting the " de- graded " architecture of the day with what he called the " Chris- tian " style. A new spirit of church building was awakened, and, by the earnest study of old work, a new era in the Gothic revival began . Pugin erected more than sixty-five churches in the United Kingdom, and many in the colonies, besides convents, monasteries .mansions and schools, and made a vast number of designs in collaboration with or as assistant to others. He had not yet arrived at the meridian of his power when he died at the age of forty. In the Gothic revival Pugin sought to restore the fervour of faith and the self-denying spirit which were the real foundations of the artistic greatness and moral grandeur of the Middle Ages. Amongst the numerous works which he erected, only the few following typical examples can be mentioned : — Roman Catholic churches at Nottingham, Derby, and elsewhere ; S. George's Cathe- dral, Southwark, and S. Augus- tine's, Ramsgate, 1855. He worked under Sir Charles Barry on the stained glass, metal work, fittings, and ornamental work generally of the Houses of Parliament. Sir Cliarles Barry : Birmingham Grammar School, 1833 ; Houses of Parliament, commenced 1840 (No. 263), in which symmetry of the leading lines on plan, simplicity of idea, and richness of character pervade the whole design, which is Classic in inspiration, Gothic in clothing, and carried out with scrupulous adherence to the spirit and detail of the Perpendicular period.