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CONTENTS
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Chapter XIV | ||
| Architecture of the Renaissance in England | ||
| II. Jones and Wren | ||
The architecture of England in the seventeenth century properly called Renaissance only by extension of the term—Jones and Wren the only architects of importance at this time—Walpole's extravagant estimate of Inigo Jones—The early career of Jones—His design for the Banqueting Hall of the palace of Whitehall—Its lack of English character—Analysis of the design—Kent's exaggerated estimate of Jones's genius—The scheme for the whole palace—Jones's design for the façade of old St. Paul's—Thoughtless laudation of the art of Inigo Jones—Sir Christopher Wren—Artistic notions of the English dilettanti in the seventeenth century—Wren's architectural training—His visit to France—The Sheldonian Theatre—Wren's project for repairs of old St. Paul's—His commission to rebuild—His first scheme for the new edifice—Sources of inspiration for the great dome—Rejection of the first scheme—The so-called warrant design—The existing edifice—The structural system of the dome—Character of the interior of the church—The masking of the buttress system—Wren's city churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
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Chapter XV | ||
| Conclusion | ||
The architecture of the Renaissance not based on consistent principles—Incorrectness of the notion that the Renaissance aberrations in the use of the orders was but a free adaptation of the old elements to new conditions—The ancient architectural forms do not lend themselves to new conditions—Adaptation involves creative changes which wholly transform original elements—Influence of the writings of Vignola and Palladio in recent times—Modern recognition of the arbitrary character of the rules of the formalists—Genuine works of art not produced from rules—A juster sense of the real character of the architecture of the Renaissance shown by a few recent writers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
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