Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 63.djvu/114

 From the above list it will be seen that while the plans for St. Paul's were being so anxiously and even painfully elaborated, Wren was busily engaged on other works. Two of these in particular must have flowed unruffled from his genius—namely, St. Mary-le-Bow and St. Stephen's, Walbrook. The former, commenced in 1671 and completed about six years after, though chiefly remarkable for its steeple, has some good points in the interior; but the whole church, excepting the north entrance, which is through a handsome arch in the tower, is removed so far back and so much closed in with houses that a plain solid exterior was all that was required; even a special purchase had to be made to provide for the steeple the commanding position which it occupies. The tower (as was invariably Wren's principle) starts visibly from the ground. It is massive and well proportioned, and up to the cornice is so simple as to be only just removed from severity; but above the cornice and balustrade a happy contrast is presented by the modulated and varied richness of the work above, which commences with a circular peristyle of twelve columns surrounding a cylindrical wall, within which is a staircase. Above these columns and based on their entablatures rise as many radiating flying buttresses, so curved as to give in the aggregate the outline of a ribbed cupola. These help to strengthen the upper parts of the spire, which here partake more of the quadrate form. The whole is surmounted by a large dragon vane, which, however, does not seem at all disproportionate to its supports. Fine transitions of light and shade are seen throughout, and the varied mass of masonry is enlivened by many cunning peeps of the sky from the bottom to the top of the composition. This work alone is sufficient to establish the fame of its architect as an artist of the highest rank (cf., Modern Architecture, p. 275).

The second of the two specially named churches exhibits an interior of a merit equal, if not superior, to that just mentioned. St. Stephen's, Walbrook, was commenced in 1672 and finished in 1679. Fergusson (p. 276) has rightly praised this interior ‘as the most pleasing of any Renaissance church that has yet been erected.’ The great result, a true sign of genius, has apparently been produced by small effort. The plan is a simple parallelogram measuring on the longer side, that is east and west, eighty-three feet, and on the shorter sixty. These are internal dimensions. Within this area are disposed sixteen columns: twelve are employed to surround a square space showing four on each side, and four others are placed further west so as to form another tetrastyle row. Narrow aisles are left between the columns and the side walls. The distances between the columns in the square are so arranged that those forming the middle pair of each side coincide with the angles of an octagon. The entablatures over these eight columns are parallel to the side or end walls, as may be required to give a cruciform effect to the superstructure, but above the entablatures spring arches following the sides of the octagon which intersect without distortion with the surface of a spherical cupola which covers the whole of the central area, and the arches form with the sphere true pendentives, a method of construction which Wren used frequently and with the best effect. The extreme lightness of the structure is one of its merits, the proportion of the supports to the area being about one hundredth part; while the judicious planning of the supports, by placing them exactly where they are wanted, satisfies the eye with the required evidence of strength. The contrast between the square shapes below and the cylindrical and spherical shapes above is most agreeable in respect of form. The arrangement also provides ample unencumbered space for the congregation. The columns are mounted on pedestals, so that their bases were always in view. Throughout this church all the principal subdivisions are harmonised to those contiguous to them in proportions of low numbers. Indeed this was Wren's usual method. Here they obtain with extreme accuracy. As this church did not occupy so prominent a situation as it now does, no particular attention to the exterior was required, but the plain tower was surmounted by an elegant spire. One of Wren's principles was, that when sufficient funds were not available for the elaboration of the whole of a design, some one or more important features should be worked up to a higher ideal than the rest, instead of adopting a lower standard for the whole.

Of the next period, St. Bride's is the most remarkable church. Internally a fine perspective is formed on each side by the arches of the nave, and externally its steeple is a beautiful and well-known object. In some repairs which it required in 1764, in order to facilitate the operation the height was reduced by eight feet. The next period, 1680 to 1685, includes some very good churches. All Hallows, Thames Street, now destroyed, had a stately internal arcade, and possessed, what St. Peter's, Cornhill, still retains, a very handsome carved oak screen.