Preliminary study for the main (lower) external entablature, differing from the fabric

WRE/2/4/16

1678–79

Sir Christopher (1632–1723) Wren, Edward (c.1635–1695) Pearce

Pen and brown ink over pencil under-drawing with pen shading. Laid paper. 41.5 x 26.0 cm. Countermark: P

{\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 A preliminary study in Pearce\rquote s hand for the entablature of the main (lower) external Corinthian order, but with the architrave not as built. Datable 1678-79. Implied scale, 1 ft to c.1.25 inches. \par \par This drawing and the larger-scale study, WRE/2/4/17, were probably prepared between Pearce\rquote s appointment as master mason on 7 September 1678 and the signing of contracts for masonry construction \lquote to the underside of the great Cornices, inside and outside\rquote on 18 July 1679, since these included \lquote the great Architrave on the outside\rquote (Wren Society 16, pp.17-18). The completed architrave, recorded by Hawksmoor (WRE/3/1/1), has two rather than three fascias and a more complex cymatium, or crowning moulding. In June and July 1681 joiners were paid for making \lquote Models for the Archatrave, Freeze, & Cornish\rquote (Wren Society 13, pp.149-50), so the design of the architrave was probably finalised by then. Construction reached the top of the frieze in 1682 (\i ibid\i0 ., pp.169-70, 174). \par \par In both studies, the entablature has an egg-and-dart moulding beneath the corona instead of the usual modillions. This profile appears in Wren's early studies of 1675 and was adopted in the fabric (see WRE/2/2/6 and 7). It derived from the cornice of Inigo Jones's west portico at old St Paul's (1635-42), which remained standing until 1687. Jones's source had been the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina in Rome, illustrated in Book IV of Palladio's \i Quattro Libri \i0 (1570). \par \par \b Reverse:\par \par \b0 A loose pencil sketch for the profile of a door or window entablature with a console bracket set sideways against the frieze and architrave; no opening at St Paul\rquote s cathedral has a frame of this kind. \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.

WRE/3/1/1, WRE/2/2/6, WRE/2/2/7