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discoveries ofi this ornament of his age and country , would , in fact , be to give the whole history of natural philosophy in his times . Perhaps , amongst literary and scientific men , there is scarcely to be found an example of one held in more high and general estimation than this gifted man . In 1665 he went to Paris , for the purpose of studying all the principal buildings , and the various inventions in the different branches of mechanics . The Louvre was then in
progress , a thousand hands being daily employed on the works , which formed a school of architecture , at that day the best in Europe . Soon after the Restoration , Charles II . ' contemplated the repair of the Cathedral of St . Paul ' s , which had become dilapidated during the barbarities of the commonwealth , its revenues having been confiscated , and the choir converted into horse-barracks by Cromwell .
In 1660 a commission was issued ( in which Wren was named ) to superintend the restoration . He was long employed in designing the best mode of effecting this . The cathedral had been previously repaired by Inigo Jones , by the addition of a beautiful Corinthian portico at the west-end , not , however , in character with the style of the building . Wren proposed to rebuild the steeple with a cupola , a form of church-building then unknown in England .
This project was at once defeated by the desolating fire of 1666 , which so injured the cathedral as to make its restoration impossible . Out of its ashes a phoenix arose , which has given to Wren the proud title of Architect of St . Paul's ; but before his brow received its crowning laurels , he had planned the restoration of the City ; and if his designs had been carried into execution ^ London would have far
exceeded every capital in the world : but the selfishness of individuals , their disputes , intrigues , and conflicting interests , deprived Wren of an opportunity for the display of inventive genius , which had never before been given to any architect . The whole city was laid waste by fire . Wren took a survey of the ruins , and made a plan for laying out the devastated space , in a regular and
commodious manner , with wide streets , and piazzas at intervals ; but in direct opposition to his views , the new streets fell into that dense and intricate maze of narrow lanes , which are now but slowly disappearing before modern improvements . Thus frustrated in his idea of planning a new city , and doomed to see his " New London , " like Inigo Jones ' s Whitehall , among the things that might have been ,
Wren was compelled to confine his ambition within narrower limits , and to turn his attention towards individual edifices . The old Royal Exchange , the old Custom House , Temple Bar , the Monument , and some churches , including that gem of modern architecture , St . Stephen ' s , Walbrook , were all erected before St . Paul's was begun .
Wren was doomed to be thwarted in his conception of a plan for the Monument , and the " tali bully , " which now " lifts its head and lies , " was substituted for it . In his original design , the shaft was adorned with gilt flames , issuing from the loop-holes ; but as no such pattern was to be found in the " five orders , " the present very common-place affair was preferred before it . Greenwich Hospital ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Untitled Article
discoveries ofi this ornament of his age and country , would , in fact , be to give the whole history of natural philosophy in his times . Perhaps , amongst literary and scientific men , there is scarcely to be found an example of one held in more high and general estimation than this gifted man . In 1665 he went to Paris , for the purpose of studying all the principal buildings , and the various inventions in the different branches of mechanics . The Louvre was then in
progress , a thousand hands being daily employed on the works , which formed a school of architecture , at that day the best in Europe . Soon after the Restoration , Charles II . ' contemplated the repair of the Cathedral of St . Paul ' s , which had become dilapidated during the barbarities of the commonwealth , its revenues having been confiscated , and the choir converted into horse-barracks by Cromwell .
In 1660 a commission was issued ( in which Wren was named ) to superintend the restoration . He was long employed in designing the best mode of effecting this . The cathedral had been previously repaired by Inigo Jones , by the addition of a beautiful Corinthian portico at the west-end , not , however , in character with the style of the building . Wren proposed to rebuild the steeple with a cupola , a form of church-building then unknown in England .
This project was at once defeated by the desolating fire of 1666 , which so injured the cathedral as to make its restoration impossible . Out of its ashes a phoenix arose , which has given to Wren the proud title of Architect of St . Paul's ; but before his brow received its crowning laurels , he had planned the restoration of the City ; and if his designs had been carried into execution ^ London would have far
exceeded every capital in the world : but the selfishness of individuals , their disputes , intrigues , and conflicting interests , deprived Wren of an opportunity for the display of inventive genius , which had never before been given to any architect . The whole city was laid waste by fire . Wren took a survey of the ruins , and made a plan for laying out the devastated space , in a regular and
commodious manner , with wide streets , and piazzas at intervals ; but in direct opposition to his views , the new streets fell into that dense and intricate maze of narrow lanes , which are now but slowly disappearing before modern improvements . Thus frustrated in his idea of planning a new city , and doomed to see his " New London , " like Inigo Jones ' s Whitehall , among the things that might have been ,
Wren was compelled to confine his ambition within narrower limits , and to turn his attention towards individual edifices . The old Royal Exchange , the old Custom House , Temple Bar , the Monument , and some churches , including that gem of modern architecture , St . Stephen ' s , Walbrook , were all erected before St . Paul's was begun .
Wren was doomed to be thwarted in his conception of a plan for the Monument , and the " tali bully , " which now " lifts its head and lies , " was substituted for it . In his original design , the shaft was adorned with gilt flames , issuing from the loop-holes ; but as no such pattern was to be found in the " five orders , " the present very common-place affair was preferred before it . Greenwich Hospital ,