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Article OUR ARCHITECTURAL CHAPTER ← Page 2 of 3 →
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Our Architectural Chapter
though such si museum as ours is the most fitting depository for such records , and our committee could be ofthe utmost service in directing the work . Our collection , in its mediaeval branch , Avould , moreover , be most imperfect if it represented only the arts of our own country . If gothic architecture is to be thoroughly studied , it must be vieAA ed as a whole , and its productions in other countries demand equal attention Avith those of our oavu . Such has
been the spirit in which Ave have from the first carried on our work . We have been the first to collect , on any great scale , casts from the magnificent Avorks of the thirteenth century in France . But when we make our architectural tours in that country , AAdiat inexhaustible riches do we find France was , in a certain sense , the birthplace and central focus of gothic architecture . She Avas the very heart and lifespring of the hearts and energies of mediaeval Europe ; and no field in Avhich we can labour is so
gloriously , ^ so astoundingly rich in objects of the very highest importance to the architectural student . This , then , should be next to , or equally Avith , our oavu country , the great seat of our labours . No one can conceive the exhaustless treasures to be qirocured from this source ; and if this alone Avere to-be our field of operations , Ave should claim all the support which all the promoters of our art could afford . Here , too , our facilities are even greater than at home ; for through the kindness of the architects in charge
of French cathedrals avc rrave every possible opportunity of carrying out our objects . Whyy then , it may be asked , do we not follow up an ohjectso magnificent , and avail ourselves of such rich treasures of art , and of such facilities for procuring them ? Why , for the very unfortunate but very obvious reason that Ave cannot afford to do so . Our first endeavours paralyzed and saddled us Avith a debt Avhich , though sloAvly diminishing , we have never been able to get rid of , while the expense of our necessary machinery nearly exhausts our annual income . If Ave once show ourselves active and
in earnest m pressing fonvard Avith our great Avork , I feel not the slightest doubt that Ave shall be met by corresponding aid on the part of the Department of Fine Arts . They have already deposited in our museum several very valuable and costly objects , and they have formally consented to our making periodical recommendations to them of Avhat objects we Avould adAise them to procure . It may , hoAvever , be asked Avhy we should not make over our work lvholly to the government . I Avould reply that ,
though it is a Avork Avhich , beyond all doubt , they ought to have initiated , we hold that , excepting only in the item of funds , it is better in the hands of those Avho , from actually themselves feeling the Avant , come forAvard voluntarily to -supply it . We feel that it is a Avork Avhich requires such a knowledge of architecture as none but practical architects are likely to possess . I will now do no more than state a feAV of the transactions of our Society during the past year . First , the numerous attendance of students during
the year . 1 may next mention that the following gentlemen have allowed us to add their names to our committee : —John Euskin , Esq . ; Edmund Beckett Denisou , Esq . ; C . C . Nelson , Esq ., lion , secretary to the Royal Institute of British Architects ; T . A . Tefft , Esq ., of New York , as corresponding member ; Alfred Stevens , Esq ., and T . G . Hubbard , Esq . In the museum itself , the principal work going on has been the re-arrangement of
the specimens , which will be followed by a new edition of the catalogue . The additions made to our catalogue have been as follows : — u 1 st . The depositing in our museum of complete casts ofthe magnificent monument of Archbishop Grey , from York Minster , and of several architectural specimens of great interest from the same cathedral , Avhich have all been prepared expressly for the purpose , at the cost of the Fine Arts Department .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Our Architectural Chapter
though such si museum as ours is the most fitting depository for such records , and our committee could be ofthe utmost service in directing the work . Our collection , in its mediaeval branch , Avould , moreover , be most imperfect if it represented only the arts of our own country . If gothic architecture is to be thoroughly studied , it must be vieAA ed as a whole , and its productions in other countries demand equal attention Avith those of our oavu . Such has
been the spirit in which Ave have from the first carried on our work . We have been the first to collect , on any great scale , casts from the magnificent Avorks of the thirteenth century in France . But when we make our architectural tours in that country , AAdiat inexhaustible riches do we find France was , in a certain sense , the birthplace and central focus of gothic architecture . She Avas the very heart and lifespring of the hearts and energies of mediaeval Europe ; and no field in Avhich we can labour is so
gloriously , ^ so astoundingly rich in objects of the very highest importance to the architectural student . This , then , should be next to , or equally Avith , our oavu country , the great seat of our labours . No one can conceive the exhaustless treasures to be qirocured from this source ; and if this alone Avere to-be our field of operations , Ave should claim all the support which all the promoters of our art could afford . Here , too , our facilities are even greater than at home ; for through the kindness of the architects in charge
of French cathedrals avc rrave every possible opportunity of carrying out our objects . Whyy then , it may be asked , do we not follow up an ohjectso magnificent , and avail ourselves of such rich treasures of art , and of such facilities for procuring them ? Why , for the very unfortunate but very obvious reason that Ave cannot afford to do so . Our first endeavours paralyzed and saddled us Avith a debt Avhich , though sloAvly diminishing , we have never been able to get rid of , while the expense of our necessary machinery nearly exhausts our annual income . If Ave once show ourselves active and
in earnest m pressing fonvard Avith our great Avork , I feel not the slightest doubt that Ave shall be met by corresponding aid on the part of the Department of Fine Arts . They have already deposited in our museum several very valuable and costly objects , and they have formally consented to our making periodical recommendations to them of Avhat objects we Avould adAise them to procure . It may , hoAvever , be asked Avhy we should not make over our work lvholly to the government . I Avould reply that ,
though it is a Avork Avhich , beyond all doubt , they ought to have initiated , we hold that , excepting only in the item of funds , it is better in the hands of those Avho , from actually themselves feeling the Avant , come forAvard voluntarily to -supply it . We feel that it is a Avork Avhich requires such a knowledge of architecture as none but practical architects are likely to possess . I will now do no more than state a feAV of the transactions of our Society during the past year . First , the numerous attendance of students during
the year . 1 may next mention that the following gentlemen have allowed us to add their names to our committee : —John Euskin , Esq . ; Edmund Beckett Denisou , Esq . ; C . C . Nelson , Esq ., lion , secretary to the Royal Institute of British Architects ; T . A . Tefft , Esq ., of New York , as corresponding member ; Alfred Stevens , Esq ., and T . G . Hubbard , Esq . In the museum itself , the principal work going on has been the re-arrangement of
the specimens , which will be followed by a new edition of the catalogue . The additions made to our catalogue have been as follows : — u 1 st . The depositing in our museum of complete casts ofthe magnificent monument of Archbishop Grey , from York Minster , and of several architectural specimens of great interest from the same cathedral , Avhich have all been prepared expressly for the purpose , at the cost of the Fine Arts Department .