Studies for the dome in 16 and 24 bays, c.1687–1691

WRE/5/1

13 drawings

{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0\deflang2057{\fonttbl{\f0\fswiss\fprq2\fcharset0 Microsoft Sans Serif;}{\f1\fswiss\fprq2\fcharset0 System;}} {\colortbl ;\red0\green0\blue128;} \viewkind4\uc1\pard\cf1\f0\fs20 In two early designs in this group - an engraved section, c.1687-88 (WRE/5/1/2), and a composite section and elevation, c.1690 (WRE/5/1/3) - Wren worked with Hawksmoor and the engraver Simon Gribelin to remodel the dome in the All Souls \lquote Revised design\rquote of c.1686 (Geraghty 2007, no.81). He reduced the attic beneath the outer dome to a single stage and concealed its internal windows behind a truncated lower dome, an idea he had borrowed from engravings of Jules Hardouin-Mansart\rquote s Invalides dome in Paris issued in 1687 (Higgott 2004b, pp.545-47). \par \par WRE/5/1/1 is a preparatory half-plan for the engraved long section, WRE/5/1/2. Wren and Hawksmoor reused the half-plan for a series of eighth-part, 24-bay alternatives to the 16-bay dome of the All Souls 'Revised design'. Five of the related elevations and sections, WRE/5/1/1-9, are drawn in ink by the unidentified draughtsman associated with the west end and dome, c.1685-91 (see also WRE/3/3/9 and 13, WRE/3/4/4-7, 12 and 14). These variant schemes for a 24-bay dome incorporate a conical middle dome, the form of which derived from a study Wren had made of a dome with parabolic internal cone (see WRE/5). All are scaled at 20 ft to 1 inch, like WRE/5/1/1-4. Several have concave-sided octagonal peristyles and lower drums and one is drawn in perspective, WRE/5/1/10. WRE/5/1/11 revises this version in two sectional studies. The right one reveals a drum about 7 ft thick at the narrowest points of the octagon: too thin to contain the thrust from the conical middle dome.\par \par In a rare freehand ink sketch, WRE/5/1/12, Wren drew an alternative to these schemes: a low, double-shell dome, the drum of which has large, apsidal projections covered in half domes. This drawing demonstrates Wren's knowledge of the Byzantine church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople (Istanbul). It also introduces a second tier of windows in the peristyle to light the soffit of the inner dome. Wren retained these upper windows in the next stage of the design; see WRE/5/2. \par \par Two early studies on one sheet for reliefs on vaulting pendentives and at the apexes of the crossing arches in c.1690-91, WRE/5/1/13, are by the Danish sculptor Caius Gabriel Cibber (1630-1700; pronounced 'Sibber'). He also drew a study for relief ornament on the vaults on the reverse of WRE/5/1/7. Cibber was a versatile draughtsman who combined pen and pencil shading with wash to express relief and shadow. \cf0\b\f1\par }

Access to the Wren office drawings held at London Metropolitan Archives is available only with advance notice and at the discretion of the Heritage Services Director, London Metropolitan Archives, 40 Northampton Road, London, EC1R 0HB.

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