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18 THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. [January,. windows, the lowest range having three, circular-headed, with key stones, the place of the other two being occupied by narrow doorways. This building is too high, the entrance too narrow, the doorways, columns, and pediment cramped; but, it is also evident, the architect had no control over these: it was the stern necessity, arising from want of space. This must also excuse the narrow doorways of the side, although it will not do so the swelled frieze over it, a licentious practice, made use of in few buildings of importance, except the Tem ple of Bacchus, near Rome, the Basilica of Antoninus, and afterwards by Palladio, in the Rotunda of Capra, and a very few others. The cornice of this building is remarkably tine, and, in the order of its mouldings, resembles those of the Temple of Jupiter Stator, in the Campo Vaccino, the whole of which is considered to be the finest spe cimen of the Corinthian order in the world. One regrets, that want of means, or some other cause, prevents the least exposed sides of this edifice being finished in the same style as the two principal fronts, thus preventing that unity so essential to classic beauty. The Union Bank, corner of Fenwick-street and Brunswick-street, has just been completed, and, although it is but a small edifice, I re gard it as one of the completest, of its size, in the town. The front has two chaste Ionic columns, in antis, upon a high plinth, surmounted by a pediment, in which are some very bold and admirable carvings, whilst the frieze that surrounds the edifice is ornamented by handsome carvings of flowers, honeysuckles, &c. The cornice is plain and good, and is surmounted by carved pedestals and handsome parapets. Under the portico, also, are some very handsome illustrative carvings in high relief. The side is plain, but chaste, the windows simple and original, and all the details excellent. After viewing these and many other buildings of the same kind, I inquired for the edifice in which the branch portion of the business of the Bank of England is transacted in this town, naturally expecting an edifice worthy of this great establishment, the profits it is reaping in the town, and the spirit shown in the erection of so expensive a one in London. But what was my astonishment and disappointment on being shown a poor, little, paltry, pitiable place, in Hanover-street, where there is neither beauty outside nor sufficient space in; some places dark, and all botched, inconvenient, and defective 1 Surely, the levia than of Threadneedle-street will not be outdone by the pettiest bank ing-house in Liverpool. A stranger is also justly struck by the number, size, and excellence of the Market-places here. The Fish Market is admirably suited to its purposes, and the entrance to the Fish Hall presents a very quiet, plain portico, expressive of its object. The St. John’s Market, which is, I believe, the largest in this county, has no external beauty, as it consists, in front, of a mere brick wall, with stone entrance archway, with a column on each side and entablature over them. But, upon entering, one who has never been there before is much struck with the width, height, and length, the span and construction of the open roof, which, by constant repetition, as the eye looks down the long perspec tive of distance, has a curious effect. There are fine, broad avenues, supported and divided by numerous tall, slender pillars, to the eye all trending to the same point in the extreme distance, affording a beauti ful practical illusion of perspective, whilst the admirable mode of lighting it gives, at certain times during the day, when the sun is brightly shining through the windows, an aerial effect of light and shade, and, in the distance, a dim atmospheric effect, that have been often admired by artists. All this, with the fair faces and rich dresses that are to be seen there, on market mornings; the luscious display of apricots, peaches, and other fruits; the beautiful bunches of flowers, of every kind, opening their petals to the day, and spreading around a delightful perfume; with the coolness and shadyness of the place, and the clean appearance of the market women, so different from those of Birmingham, London, or elsewhere, renders it, though but a market, a place where the stranger may well spend an hour’s stroll. Eder. ( To be continued.) ON THE STYLE OF INIGO JONES. \Ve feel delight in reviewing the merits of a master, for as pupils of design we are interested in whatever concerns the history of our art but we are more concerned in the criticism, when that master is an Englishman, and that art our countrys. There is another interest involved in the investigation; because in descanting on style, we too often pass over beauties and originalities, where the prevailing senti ment is evidently borrowed. There is a disposition about us, to wave that patient investigation of the detail, under which the independence even of the borrower appears. Thus we say, in allusion to Inigo Jones, that his style is Palladio’s. Certainly, there is the same modi fication of the orders, and the same appropriation of effect, perhaps the same selection of the parts. Certainly his style is Palladio’s, if we except that, upon which the. very groundwork of the Italian re poses ; viz. the skill of assorting and applying, materials already fur nished. But then, he extracts no more from Palladio, than the poet does from nature, namely the elements and the matter. Indebted to Palladio he is, as the poet is to nature, for the picture displayed, but indebted he is also, to his own exquisite perception, for the soul which can encompass, and the hand which can pencil anew, its beauties in fresh combinations. He does not merely either leave Palladio full of the impressions of that master, but betrays the critic too: arrested by the elements, as much as by the effect by the parts, as much as by the whole. Such and such oniv, is the connection of the English master with the Italian; and if the latter deserve the homage of the southern school, so also does the former merit the praises of the northern. And if Palladio be recognized as the fathar of combinations, so should Jones be seen original in his conceits; whilst both appear like distinct genuises of music; making the instrument of design to arrest tne mind, solely by the exquisite beauty of their creations. To follow Inigo Jones however in his arrangement, let us take him in one of his grandest flights, where the combinations are most ex tended, and the distribution most difficult. Suppose the front of 720 feet in the design for the Whitehall Palace. To distribute so long a front, and to bestow upon it the necessary gradations in effect, required several vast features in the first place: so the wings and the centre are made distinct, in plan, profile and elevation. The centre being the abode of dignity, and a focus for the eye, this is elevated above that contiguous to it: the wings too are elevated, and here the variety is first in the proportion, with the regulating principle an increase of the parts as they distance from the eye. For had not a tower termi nated the facade, the eye would have fallen, and had not shadow’s been cast from the wings, tameness and indistinct blending might have resulted. Having resolved on general distinctions, Inigo Jones ap pears on a more intricate field, and here it is more important to follow him, since here it is he rises above, and surpasses his imitators. First let us approach the centre, which though varying from others of his design, illustrates, the peculiar artifices of his style. It is not enough, be it observed, that the rusticated base which extends through out, should here be stopped; and that pedestals and their huger columns should rise, unbroken by an inferior part to the first cornice. There is a fresh arrangement of variety yet to be considered. The centre betrays infinite attention and careful study. He seems here to have so diffused his features, that considered in itself and isolated from the main building, it would yet betray an unity in its design: unlike many of his followers who scatter their unity throughout the whole. Although the heighth of the centre is very little more than its w’idth, the eye is yet insensibly led upwards to the tympanum which crowns it: and this not so much from the existence of that tympanum, as from the minutiae. Nothing flat or depressed intrudes, the eye sweeps upon the arched entrance to the arched window above; and from the arched window to the figures which recline thereon. The argle made by those figures would meet in the base of the shield; whilst from the shield you at once forsake for the statue. Another glance however and fresh contrivances appear. The side compart ments of the centre, in obedience to the idea of a pyramid which seems to float in Jones’s mind, must not conduct you too hastily to the apex; because if so the principle of pyramidal truth would vanish. To avoid this error then, and yet still to admit of that gradual taper ing, which in a pyramid is regular and unbroken, from the base to the summit; he has contrived in the side entrances, that their arches should conduct the eye, not to the tympanum, that would be sudden; but to the crown of the grand central arch : for if a line be drawn from the springing of the lesser arches to their crown; they would intersect in the crown of the greater arch. Then again, as if afraid that this were too sudden an ascent of line so near the base, he introduces two square panels over the lesser arches, as a relief to restore the balance, as it were of form. On the upper story the same idea exists, and the intersecting line of the lesser tympanums is in the centre of the head from which a festoon of flowers droop. A further scrutiny might still reveal increasing artifice in composition, but enough has been said for the merits of the centre. It will appear evident, 1 humbly believe as the criticism proceeds, that Jones surpasses all his imitators in that attention to the subordinate parts of his edifice. And this, be it re marked, is no trivial allowance to make, when the very elements and basis of Palladian doctrine, is combination; and that not in mere generalaties, but in every part where consistency will admit a feature. Leaving the centre for the void, contiguous to it, there appears nothing peculiar to him from the rest of his school. The piers between the windows are twice the windows’ width, whilst the windows are twice their height. The effect of this part, and its sober appearance is more to be considered in connection with the edifice a? a whole, than as in-
