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Article OUR ARCHITECTURAL CHAPTEE ← Page 2 of 4 →
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Our Architectural Chaptee
they ^ are surfaces of paint in substitution of solid material . Thus the columns and pilasters are painted in imitation of rosso antico , andthe
capitals and bases are bronzed and gilt . AH this wfork will , in time , become dingy j and it is much to be regretted English marbles were not Used , and tile capitals and bases electrotyped and gilt ; so too , the seinidomed ceiliiig of tlfe apse , whifeh is painted in azure , with gilt stairs ,- should Mve had the sarhe effects produced in more durable substances .
One very good feature is the in of inscriptions as a Means of decoration , which are treated artistically , while they are not without frioi * al effieCt . It is to be regretted that they arehalf Latin and half English , whereas , in a building devoted td the greatest people of modern days , who have surpassed the Romans , it is quite preposterous to indulge schoolmasters with scraps of Lathi . If quotations
must be had , they can be obtained from Our own poets * Dr . Spiers very well pointed out in the Times lately , that in France national literature is a piart of collegiate education , in England it Is ignored . So far as the mottoes ofthe mayor , corporate bodies or others connected with Leeds happen to be in Latin , such mottoes may be adopted ; but what do working men and other Englishmen care about " Labor 9
omnia vincit , " Deo , regi , patria 3 , ' & cc This mode of decoration by inscriptions is far nobler than a string of calves' heads , or the eternal repetition of egg and tongue mouldings aiid other devices of the wholesale manufacturers of ornament , and wholesale murderers of art .
In the sculpture of the tympanum we regret to say that Mr . Thomas has consulted the schoolmasters , and that we have the old classic allegories , with the bust of Minerva and a Corinthian capital ; so few artists are there who know how to treat an English subject with English attributes . A people ^ who have neither a literature nor a history ,
like the Belgians for instance , may be excused for adopting Roman or Greek masques ; the Italians of course claim the Romans for their ancestors , and adopt their emblems j and a French emperor , anxious to identify his prerogatives with those of the Ccesars , has a political excuse for prescribing the forms of imperial Rome ; but in England and the United States , the artist has nothing to do with Rome or
Greece when portraying national incidents , or decorating a national monument . He who goes into St . Paul ' s will believe that as many Roman admirals and generals are buried there , as there are English , for he can scarcely recognize the heroes of the quarterdeck or the
leader of grenadiers in the mummery of a legionary—bows and arrows alone are wanted in some cases to complete the ridicule . There are artists however , who , instead of dressing a modern hero in Roman , armour , wotild like very much to have him in chain mail with a
tilting spear , a missal in his hand , and an heraldic dog and a couple of nunnery angels at his feet . Who knows—perhaps they will get the Duke of Wellington hewn on an altar-slab , in plate armour ! Howover , they would have the excuse and the delusion , that they were per-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Our Architectural Chaptee
they ^ are surfaces of paint in substitution of solid material . Thus the columns and pilasters are painted in imitation of rosso antico , andthe
capitals and bases are bronzed and gilt . AH this wfork will , in time , become dingy j and it is much to be regretted English marbles were not Used , and tile capitals and bases electrotyped and gilt ; so too , the seinidomed ceiliiig of tlfe apse , whifeh is painted in azure , with gilt stairs ,- should Mve had the sarhe effects produced in more durable substances .
One very good feature is the in of inscriptions as a Means of decoration , which are treated artistically , while they are not without frioi * al effieCt . It is to be regretted that they arehalf Latin and half English , whereas , in a building devoted td the greatest people of modern days , who have surpassed the Romans , it is quite preposterous to indulge schoolmasters with scraps of Lathi . If quotations
must be had , they can be obtained from Our own poets * Dr . Spiers very well pointed out in the Times lately , that in France national literature is a piart of collegiate education , in England it Is ignored . So far as the mottoes ofthe mayor , corporate bodies or others connected with Leeds happen to be in Latin , such mottoes may be adopted ; but what do working men and other Englishmen care about " Labor 9
omnia vincit , " Deo , regi , patria 3 , ' & cc This mode of decoration by inscriptions is far nobler than a string of calves' heads , or the eternal repetition of egg and tongue mouldings aiid other devices of the wholesale manufacturers of ornament , and wholesale murderers of art .
In the sculpture of the tympanum we regret to say that Mr . Thomas has consulted the schoolmasters , and that we have the old classic allegories , with the bust of Minerva and a Corinthian capital ; so few artists are there who know how to treat an English subject with English attributes . A people ^ who have neither a literature nor a history ,
like the Belgians for instance , may be excused for adopting Roman or Greek masques ; the Italians of course claim the Romans for their ancestors , and adopt their emblems j and a French emperor , anxious to identify his prerogatives with those of the Ccesars , has a political excuse for prescribing the forms of imperial Rome ; but in England and the United States , the artist has nothing to do with Rome or
Greece when portraying national incidents , or decorating a national monument . He who goes into St . Paul ' s will believe that as many Roman admirals and generals are buried there , as there are English , for he can scarcely recognize the heroes of the quarterdeck or the
leader of grenadiers in the mummery of a legionary—bows and arrows alone are wanted in some cases to complete the ridicule . There are artists however , who , instead of dressing a modern hero in Roman , armour , wotild like very much to have him in chain mail with a
tilting spear , a missal in his hand , and an heraldic dog and a couple of nunnery angels at his feet . Who knows—perhaps they will get the Duke of Wellington hewn on an altar-slab , in plate armour ! Howover , they would have the excuse and the delusion , that they were per-