Page:Hutton, William Holden - Hampton Court (1897).djvu/61

Rh particular style, Neo-classic, or what you will, to perfection. The buildings are impressive, distinctly decorative, and unmistakably comfortable.

On this east front the white of the windows, the pediments, and balustrade, of the carved trophies, flowers, fruit, putti, and all the paraphernalia of the craftsmen of the age, is in striking but never startling contrast to the rich red of the bricks. There are here some wonderful specimens of under-cutting in stone,—the carved keystones of the windows of the ground floor looking over the gardens, with the initials of William and Mary intwined under a crown. The effect of this is now often lost because the birds' nests inside them are allowed to remain. The whole front has a brightness which the English climate indisputably needs. One might be saddened by the solemn court of Wolsey, but Wren's work, if it could be monotonous, could never be depressing.

The south front, which looks upon the private garden, is slightly varied from the design of the east. It is, very slightly, less long; it has two projecting wings, each of the space of four windows, and the central compartment has not the same rich pediment or abundant decoration. At the west end the building joins Wolsey's work, the window of Queen Elizabeth. And the contrast is striking if not particularly pleasing; for Wren's work, it must be admitted, here (as in S. Mary's Church at Warwick) does not look at its best in conjunction with another style.

If Wren was always impressive in his exteriors, his