Study for a revision to the central bay of the upper transept front

WRE/3/2/8

1685–86

Sir Christopher (1632–1723) Wren, Nicholas (c.1662–1736) Hawksmoor

Pen and brown ink over pencil under-drawing, with additions in pencil, and with pencil, pen and black chalk shading. Smooth laid paper. 31.1 x 42.9 cm, with semi-circular overlay, 3.8 x 7.7 cm on panel in tympanum. Watermark: Strasbourg lily WR.

{\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 study for the central bay of the upper transept front with a curved rather than a triangular pediment and omitting the semi-dome of the portico. Drawn by Hawksmoor. Datable 1685-86. Implied scale c.6 ft to 1 inch.\par \par Hawksmoor\rquote s responsibility for the drawing is suggested by the loose, freehand pen shading around the sculptural and ornamental features and the perspectival rendering of the niches. The capitals lack the vertical pen shading found in his early drawings for the upper west end and transepts, e.g., WRE/3/3/5 and WRE/3/2/3, but the drawing must still be relatively early in the 1685-86 phase, as the design of the upper entablature has not been finalised: the block consoles are drawn too thick and the architrave has three rather than two fascias.\par \par The elevation is restricted to the upper central bay of the transept front, although ruled pencil lines indicate the entablature and plinth course continuing on each side. It also omits the sill of the transept window, which should run beneath the lower panels on each side, and the semi-dome of the portico below the sill; see WRE/3/2/5 and WRE/3/2/9. Similar elisions are found in other part-elevations and part-sections drawn by Hawksmoor in this period, e.g., WRE/3/4/12. Pencil lines in the pediment indicate the roof structure in broken outline on the left and an alternative triangular pediment on the right. \par \par Wren changed the tripartite, aedicule-and-niche composition in the earlier series of designs (WRE/3/2/2-5) to a lugged architrave surround framed by panelled pilasters. These inner pilasters mark a shallow central recess which rises to a lunette in the tympanum, recalling the transept front of the Great Model. Outer paired pilasters mark a second break in the wall, entablature and tympanum, as in the Model, although shallower. In the drawing the inner pilasters range with those at the ends of the bay, but in the fabric their bases die into the semi-dome of the portico; see WRE/3/2/9. The pediment above is segmental, a variant for which there were precedents in Parisian church architecture, for example the fa\'e7ade of St-Gervais-et-St-Protais, 1616-20. Drawn over it in pencil are the outlines of a triangular pediment on the right and the dashed outlines of the roof structure on the left. \par \par The lunette formed by the arch bears a flap sketched with the crest of the City of London surmounted by a crown (for the monarchy), with a female supporter on the right. Beneath this is an initial design with a blank crest, also surmounted by a crown, and with a male supporter on the left (see second image). A City crest has also been sketched on the ornamental keyblock of the transept window. The City of London crest is normally supported by dragons and never carries a crown. When this drawing was prepared in c.1685-86, Wren was considering a crest and royal dedication over the great west door; see WRE/3/3/2 and 4. This scheme may therefore represent an alternative in which the arms of the City of London and the monarch are conjoined. The north transept front would be the most likely place for such a dedication as it faces the historic entrance to the churchyard from the City of London. In the mid-1690s a royal crest was carved over the north portico and a phoenix over the south portico.\par \par Within the niches are statues of a woman holding up a flaming torch and bald male figure holding an open book (probably St Paul).\par \par The title in pencil beneath the elevation, \lquote\i Design for over the North Portico\i0\rquote , was probably written by Robert Mylne; he acquired a group of Wren-office drawings in 1767; see also WRE/2/3/1, WRE/3/1/4, 5 and 7, and WRE/4/1/4. \par \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/3/3/5, WRE/3/4/12, WRE/3/3/2, WRE/3/3/4, WRE/3/1/4, WRE/3/1/5, WRE/3/1/7, WRE/2/3/1, WRE/4/1/4