Elevation of the base and cornice of a pedestal or attic order

WRE/7/4/1

c.1675

Pen and brown ink over pencil and incised compass lines. Smooth, soiled laid paper, untrimmed top and left, and with narrow section (8.5 x 1.2 cm) cut away at bottom right edge; central fold and two other fold marks. 24.9 x 19.7 cm. Watermark: foolscap.

A study for a pedestal, with base and cornice mouldings, and a pier 2 ft 8 inches wide, for an unknown location. Drawn by Wren. Datable, early or mid-1670s. Drawn scale, 1 ft = 13/32 in (35.5 mm). The careful ruled ink technique suggests Wren’s hand around 1675, as does the scale bar (compare WRE/2/3/4 and WRE/2/2/5). The design is for a tall pedestal feature, omitting the middle of the panel, and with basement and cornice mouldings similar to those in the Ionic, Corinthian and Composite orders (see Palladio, Quattro Libri dell’Architettura, 1570, Book I, chapters xvi, xvii and xviii). The concave moulding above the cornice would have served as a sub-plinth for the base of a column or statue. The deep projection of the cornice suggests an attic storey above a column or pilaster rather than a pedestal at ground level. Although previously associated with the internal attic of the cathedral (Downes 1988b, no.120), the pedestal, measuring 2 ft 8 inches across, is too narrow for this location, as it should be the same width as the column or pilaster shaft below (4 ft at St Paul’s).

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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WRE/2/2/5, WRE/2/3/4