Baroque and Architecture - Essay Example

St Paul’s Cathedral Introduction St Paul’s Cathedral is one of the most loved buildings in London. The structure has been ruling the city architectural beauty since three centuries and has been the best example of the relationship between architecture and math. Without St Paul’s Cathedral, London city would have been incomplete. The cathedral was not the initial idea proposed by the famous architect Christopher Wren. However, Wren wanted to design this building with curved walls which would have made this cathedral the first baroque building of England. The cathedral still managed to have a dynamic design which featured curves which was a typical feature of baroque architecture. From the paintings to the architectural techniques which were seen in baroque style as dramatic usage of color, extravagant settings, larger rooms, ornamentation, and pear-shaped domes; all of which were characteristics of baroque architecture are seen in St Paul’s Cathedral. Thus St Paul’s Cathedral was a true baroque structure. Wren’s first baroque design for this cathedral was rejected and considered as not practical and too foreign. The crowning dome was taken from that design and since three centuries the dome of the cathedral has been a major attraction in the city. The dome was designed by Wren not only to express the foreign architecture influence on his work but also to uncover the love he had for mathematics. Wren is known as the best architecture for his designs of buildings. He was also known as a leading mathematician and through his combination, he mastered in the shapes and arches of domes. He applied several theories through which he created historic monuments and recorded history’s best used mathematical sciences in architecture (Daoust, 2011). The St Paul’s cathedral was known as the world’s first cathedral with a triple-dome. It was also the first cathedral which was completed in the lifetime of the architect. Wren had designed the cathedral so originally and furnished it with true British furniture that it was hard to believe how easily he did it. He adopted the characteristics of the baroque architecture which consisted of repeated styles and techniques used in buildings and structures. He was an aesthete and the love for art led him to design beautiful churches. As he was also an engineer, he designed and built structures that were acoustically pleasing. St Paul’s Cathedral marked the beginning of the shaky baroque architecture in England. This architecture was further elaborated in the 18th century but in 17th century Wren had combined the Gothic with Classicism and brought the St Paul’s Cathedral in structure. Combining gothic with classical has always been a difficult and unremarkable style but Wren has been the person who managed to slip from style to style so smoothly and combined the two styles. He had practiced this feature in many of his church designs in London. The churches Wren designed were usually on small sites on cramped streets but the structures were airy, had big galleries, windows, and gleaming gold plaster. The church was spacious enough for big crowds and the altar was moved towards the congregation from the east wall so the crowd could hear and see the actions better. The St Paul’s cathedral has been built as a balancing act between the baroque and the Anglican Church. The balancing between the Catholicism and Anglican Church was rather delicate because the English monarchs had changing religions. The airy windows and big galleries was a significant characteristic of baroque architecture which was used by Wren in the St Paul’s Cathedral. This form of architecture consisted of complex shaped buildings, extravagant ornaments, and opulent paintings. The baroque style emerged in architecture as a complex style which consisted of architectural plan shapes based on the oval shape, and the dynamic interpenetration of spaces depicted the feeling of sensuality and motion. Other main characteristics seen as the baroque architecture developed were lighting contrast, grandeur, and drama which was seen in the St Paul’s Cathedral as Wren designed it with airy windows and huge hallways. Similar to the baroque architecture, Wren used bright colors, paintings, and illusions vividly expressed in the structure overall. Figure 1 Daoust (2011) St Paul’s Cathedral has been built in a style which represents Wren’s understanding of the baroque architecture and his inspirations from the classical styles of the 17th century baroque structures of Rome. The design of the cathedral shows the medieval influences and aspirations of Wren. The façade of the building is seen to be the major aspect which describes the building and its form as soon as the viewer looks at it. The exterior of the building has its most notable feature which is the dome. The dome of the cathedral dominates the views of the whole city. Until the end of 20th century, St Paul’s cathedral was the tallest building of the city. This characteristic of the structure was also closely reflecting the baroque style as baroque architecture consisted of high domes and large curved forms. Its exterior has made it the finest building structures in Europe standing to attract viewers for since the last three centuries. Some have also considered it to be the most perfect building structure in the while world (Mount, 2011). Although Wren had drawn inspiration from other churches to build the dome of St Paul’s, it is built in two differently defined stories of masonry rising to a height of 95 feet. From the time Wren created the Greek cross plan for the cathedral, it was clear that he was favoring a continuous arcade around the dome drum. There are three domes in the building which are one within the other and the height is about 464 feet. The dome is the main attraction which displays the skill of baroque architecture used in the construction of the building. The technique used in the architecture is also based on a new approach used by Wren which is the outward pressure being balanced by the weight of bricks supporting the top stone lantern. The dome of the building is what gives it a noble appearance and relates to the baroque architecture as curving facades have been a major part of baroque architecture in the renaissance period. Baroque style has a different taste for curves which is a sort of expression used as a primary feature for the facades of the church. The church facades comprised of domes and curves which was the readiest way to identify a baroque exterior. Other than the shape of the structures, the baroque architecture was purely decorative and functional. Figure 2 Mount H. (2011) The interior of the building is as worthy as the exterior even though the nave design is considered to be a failure to some extent. The interior of the structure has lack of light which serves as a great drawback. The insufficiency of light and the fault of the design which was abandoned by Wren against his own will was not the architect’s fault. When Wren had to forcefully adopt the side aisles of a Roman Catholic Church and a long nave, it is said that he almost wept. He was also harassed by the critics and the short-term economy. There are also many paintings in the building which are the work of James Thornhill hung on the cupola against the will of Wren. Thornhill’s designs were dark and heavy for the interior of the building which consisted of a delicate light and brilliant colors mixing with the natural tints. Thornhill’s paintings were in the building but they had surprisingly decayed rapidly that all efforts made to restore them considered unavailing. When the long promised mural decorations were executed, the cathedral was hoped to be looked upon in the same way as the architect looked at it when he first imagined the concept. The western doors and beneath the dome are the places with the best views of the cathedral (Zirpolo, 2010). Some of the most important and significant features of the interior decorations of the cathedral are the carvings of the choir stalls which are made by the artist Grinling Gibbons. Gibbons was an incredible artist who was discovered in a cottage near Saye’s Court by Evelyn when he was carving a wonderful crucifix. Gibbons beauty in his work caught the attention of Evelyn and he took Gibbons to Wren where he introduced them to one another and from there started the successful journey of a genius and fortune carver. Rembrandt Schmidt built the choir’s organ which was then considered to be the best in England. It consisted of two pulpits which were designed by Myle and Wyatt executed it while the other pulpit was in different colors of marbles made by Penrose. The windows at the west end of the cathedral are all painted in a modern way. The baroque style of painting was also decorative and had images which were direct, intense, and dramatic. The typical baroque style was originated in Italy but had influenced the whole of Europe. There were several new designs and ideas that were applied for printed books of Continental embellishments executed by English designers. There were also many French and Dutch craftspeople that had been settled in England and greatly influenced the development of the baroque style. The baroque categorized the drama sense and love of the ornate. Interiors of the baroque style were luxurious such as red velvet with marquetry furniture and gilt-wood. These styles remained to be in fashion for a long period of time until the 18th century (Porter, 2008). The characteristics of the baroque style were foliage motifs which was a large amount of plant life. The scrolling foliage and flower garlands were used as decorative objects. Marquetry was another characteristic of the baroque style which focused on the laying of veneers of woods with different colors into the furniture surface. This is a novel way of decoration and it was learnt from the cabinet-makers of French and Dutch. Putti is the name given to ‘boys’ in Italian and this is where baroque objects consist of many images of chubby infants. The use of initials and other types of decorative monograms was also a characteristic of the baroque along with heraldic crests which were incorporated in the designs as symbols of ownership and status. Lastly, the baroque style included luxurious textiles which were the distinctive features of the interiors. St Paul’s Cathedral was the plan of Sir Christopher Wren to remodel London in 1666 after the Great Fire. As the cathedral was built between 1675 and 1709 it has been regarded as one of the best structures in the history of baroque architecture. Out of all the features of baroque style, the most attractive feature of the cathedral was the great dome which was the first ever of its type to have been constructed in Britain. The scale of the building exterior is a reflection of the grand interior designed by Wren (Gayler, 1996). The dome is the most significant feature of the structure as it is made from three domes. The dome which can be seen from the outside has a spherical shape which is beautiful and simple made with perfection making it an important symbol represented for the church. However the dome which can be seen within the cathedral is inside an external dome which is a smaller dome in accordance to the building’s internal proportions. The third dome is hidden between the inner and outer dome as it steeply sloped and was designed using mathematic plans. Mathematical principles were also used in the making of the design of this structure. Today math is commonly known as an important part for engineering and architecture but at that time when there were no calculators or computers it was really something amazing to imply. In few previous churches, math had played a vital role in the planning and construction process of the structures. Wren used mathematic principles to use a scientific approach towards the construction of the curves, domes, and overall an iconic structure (Mount, 2011). Figure 3 Adams D. (2012) Thus, Christopher Wren’s structure stands at a significant position in the history and in the baroque architecture. It has been one of the masterpieces of baroque styles as it consisted of many characteristics including the interiors and the exteriors. The building turned out to be the most essential attraction in Europe and the dome was the tallest in Europe. The St Paul’s Cathedral was a truly Baroque structure. References Adams, D. (2012). St Paul’s Cathedral. London: The Official Magazine Britain Daoust, P. (2011). Baroque Architecture in Britain: examples from the era. London: The Guardian Gayler, H. (1996). Geographical Excursions in London. NY: University Press of America Mount H. (2011). St Paul’s Cathedral anniversary: the beauty of the domes that Wren built. London: The Telegraph Porter, D. (2008). Frommer’s London 2009. NY: John Wiley & Sons Zirpolo, L. (2010). Historical Dictionary of Baroque Art and Architecture. London: Scarecrow Press Read More