London, GB | Formerly of New York, Buenos Aires, Fife, and the Western Cape. | Saoránach d’Éirinn.

St Paul’s Gothicised

Victorian England went mad for the medieval, often neglecting or destroying buildings and structures of classical design along the way. Wren’s classical rood screen for Westminster Abbey is probably no great loss, but just imagine if his masterpiece, St Paul’s Cathedral, had been gothicised.

Just such was imagined by the architectural sketch artist C.A. Nicholson in two drawings he sent to the Architectural Record (albeit in the 1910s, not the Victorian era). Nicholson was inspired by an image printed in a previous issue of the Record showing the front of Peterborough Cathedral transformed into a classic design.

Of course before the Great Fire, Old St Paul’s was a Gothic cathedral.

Published at 6:30 pm on Wednesday 25 September 2013. Categories: Architecture Errant Thoughts Tags: , .
Comments

Bl. John Henry Newman would not approve: “I cannot deny that, however my reason may go with Gothic, my heart has ever gone with Grecian. I loved Trinity Chapel at Oxford more than any other building. There is in the Italian style such a simplicity, purity, elegance, beauty, brightness, which I suppose the word “classical” implies, that it seems to befit the notion of an Angel or Saint. The Gothic style does not seem to me to typify the sanctity or innocence of the Blessed Virgin, or St. Gabriel, or the lightness, grace, and sweet cheerfulness of the elect as the Grecian does.”

— sancrucensis 25 Sep 2013 7:20 pm

Ah, I wish the designs were more readable. The idea is interesting. I can’t say I care much for the current exterior of Saint Paul’s, which in contrast to the interior is rather bland.

Are there any churches (or other buildings) that were gothicised? I can’t think of an example myself.

— Othmar 26 Sep 2013 8:19 am

There are some building in New York that I wouldn’t mind seeing gothicised. St Paul’s is more of a pseudo St Peter’s in Rome to me, so, I think that if it were to be “improved” I could see it being more Romanized, maybe with a better high altar.

— Valeria Kondratiev 1 Oct 2013 7:33 pm
Leave a comment

NAME (required)

EMAIL (required)

WEBSITE (not required)

COMMENT

Home | About | Contact | Paginated Index | Twitter | Facebook | RSS/Atom Feed
andrewcusack.com | © Andrew Cusack 2004-present (Unless otherwise stated)