THE BROCHURE SERIES |
| PLATE LXXXIII | ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL: LONDON |
THE | ||
| 1900. | NOVEMBER | No. 11. |
THE WORK OF
SIR CHRISTOPHER WREN.
During the reign of James I. theRenaissance style in England,which in Elizabeth's time had beenmingled in picturesque combination withthe Gothic, was further developed, losingyear by year more of the Gothic featuresand becoming purer as the Classic modelsand literature became better known. TheAnglo-Classic, or fully evolved EnglishRenaissance style, arose only, however,with the advent of the celebrated InigoJones, who brought to his work the fruitsof long study in Italy, and a thoroughknowledge of the work of Palladio whowas his master in design. During his lifeJones' influence was paramount, and up tothe time of the Commonwealth he had apractical monopoly of the architecturalprofession in England. His work wastaken up where he left it by an architecton the whole, more remarkable—one ofthe most remarkable figures, indeed, thatarchitecture has produced—Sir ChristopherWren, whose influence after the Restorationwas even more complete than thatof Jones had been before it. No buildingof importance was erected in England duringthe last forty years of the seventeenthcentury, of which Wren was not the architect.To Americans, moreover, Wren'swork has an especial interest. Our ownColonial style, particularly in the architectureof churches, was in no slight degreebased upon models which he originated, andhe has not without justification been calledthe "father of the American Colonial style."
Sir Christopher Wren was born at EastKnoyle, Wiltshire, on October 20, 1632. Hewas the son of Christopher Wren, rectorof East Knoyle. He early showed a tastefor natural science and mathematics, andup to his twenty-ninth year devoted himselfwith great genius to scientific pursuits.His fame rests chiefly on his architecturalachievements, but had his philosophicalpursuits not been interfered with by thearduous profession to which he later devotedhimself he could not have failed ofsecuring a scientific position higher thanthat attained by any of his contemporaries,with of course one exception, Newton.Hooke in his "Micrographia" wrote ofhim, "I must affirm that scarce ever metin one man such a mechanical hand and sophilosophical a mind." He made elaboratedrawings to illustrate the anatomy of thebrain, invented an instrument for planting,a method of making fresh water at sea,produced a scheme for the