Finished elevation for a west front with a giant six-column Corinthian portico

WRE/3/3/3

1685

Sir Christopher (1632–1723) Wren, Simon (1661–1733) Gribelin

Pen and brown ink over pencil under-drawing with some pencil shading; pricked through for transfer. Two joined sheets of smooth laid paper; sooted hand print at top centre. 47.6 x 62.4 cm. Watermark: Strasbourg lily WR; countermark: A X A[inverted V].

{\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 neatly drawn but incomplete elevation of a two-storey west front with a giant, six-column portico; a companion to WRE/3/3/4, in which the portico and narthex are developed in cross-section and long section. Drawn by Simon Gribelin. Datable 1685. Implied scale, just over 10 ft to 1 inch; 10 ft = 24.5 mm (same as on WRE/3/3/1). \par \par The companion drawing bears a pencilled dedication to William III and Mary II, suggesting a date range, 1689-94, but this part of the inscription is a later amendment; see WRE/3/3/4. Both drawings must be early in the revisions of 1685, as they embody features that were superseded in many other preparatory designs at this stage.\par \par Simon Gribelin's responsibility as draughtsman is clear from the fine pen outline technique over lightly ruled pencil, the absence of a scale bar, and the handling of the Corinthian capitals: delicately drawn with vertically delineated acanthus leaves, scroll-like volutes and abacus flowers with trailing tendrils; compare WRE/3/1/13-15, WRE/3/3/16. \par \par The width of the west front in this drawing is 180.5 ft between the outer edges of the pilasters. This compares with 177 ft in the fabric. The extra width in this design arise from the tower bays being nearly 2 ft wider than their 45-ft built dimension between the outer edges of the paired pilasters. The built width of 45 ft dimension first appears on an early half-plan for the west end, WRE/3/4/1. On the present drawing the tower bays are blank at both levels. They also have of full-width instead of three-quarter-width pilasters on the inner sides of the paired pilasters at the lower level; compare WRE/3/3/8 and WRE/3/4/1. In the lower entablature, no breaks are shown above the lower paired pilasters and no outer profiles are drawn. No basement or front steps are drawn. \par \par The giant Corinthian portico was inspired by that of the Great Model. Six enormous columns, 85 ft high and 8 ft in diameter, stand at church-floor level and the entablature contains an inscription panel. Fluting is limited to the outer columns, beneath short sections of architrave which frame the inscription panel in the entablature and appears to have been intended to give emphasis to the ends of the portico. The fluting itself is characteristic of the Doric rather than the Corinthian order, as the hollows are not separated by fillets. \par \par The console brackets in the upper entablature appear for the first time in this drawing but are grouped in pairs and restricted to the projections above the ends of the elevation. They have a stepped profile not found in later renderings of this feature. \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/3/4/1, WRE/6/1/1, WRE/3/1/13, WRE/3/1/14, WRE/3/1/15