Corinthian, the upper composite. It is built externally in two
stories, in both of which, except at the north and south porticoes
and at the west front, the whole of the entablatures rest on
coupled pilasters, between which in the lower order a range of
circular-headed windows is introduced. But in the order above, the
corresponding spaces are occupied by dressed niches, standing on
pedestals pierced with openings to light the passages in the roof
over the side aisles. The upper order is nothing but a screen to
hide the flying-buttresses carried across from the outer walls to
resist the thrust of the great vaulting.”--(M.)
The =Dome=, the great feature of the church, is very beautiful when seen
from a distance, as from one of the bridges, rising with its graceful
curves far above the roofs and other spires.
“The dome, which is by far the most magnificent and elegant feature
in the building, rises from the body of the church in great
majesty. It is 145 feet in outward and 108 feet in inward diameter.
Twenty feet above the roof of the church is a circular range of
twenty-two columns, every fourth intercolumniation being filled
with masonry, so disposed as to form an ornamental niche or recess,
by which arrangement the projecting buttresses of the cupola are
concealed. These, which form a peristyle of the Composite Order,
with an unbroken entablature, enclose the interior order. They
support a handsome gallery adorned with a balustrade. Above these
columns is a range of pilasters, with windows between them, forming
an attic order, and on these the great dome stands. The general
idea of the cupola, as appears from the _Parentalia_, was taken
from the Pantheon at Rome. On the summit of the dome, which is
covered with lead, is a gilt circular balcony, and from its centre
rises the lantern, adorned with Corinthian columns. The whole is
terminated by a gilt ball and cross.
“But with the matchless exterior ceases the superiority, and
likewise, to a great degree, the responsibility of Wren. His
designs for the interior were not only carried out, but he was in
every way thwarted, controlled, baffled in his old age to the
eternal disgrace of all concerned; the victim of the pitiful
jealousy of some, the ignorance of others, the ingratitude of
all.”--(M.)
It is singular to note that when Wren laid the corner-stone on June 11,
1675, there was no solemn ceremonial. The King, the Court, the
Archbishop of Canterbury and the Lord Mayor of London were all notably
absent, but when he laid the last stone in the lantern of the cupola in
1710
“all London poured forth for the spectacle, which had been publicly
announced, and were looking up in wonder to the old man, or his
son, if not the old man himself, who was, on that wondrous height,
setting the seal, as it were, to his august labours.
“When one enters the west door one cannot fail to be struck with
the vastness of the space enclosed within its massive walls; there
is no screen to break the view towards the east, and, as one stands
beneath the dome and looks up into its enormous hollow, the sense
of overpowering height is felt as in no other church in
England.”--(T. P.)
Entering through the western door we are struck with the immensity of
the =Nave= and overspreading dome, the effect of the lights, and, if
service is being held, the peculiar beauty of the chants of the
choristers, whose voices seem to come from the dome and float through
the misty light to our ears.
It would be interesting to know if Wagner ever heard the choir-boys of
St. Paul’s and sought to reproduce the effect in _Parsifal_, by
arranging the voices of knights, squires and youths at various stages in
the dome of Montsalvat to sing softly of the “wondrous work of mercy and
salvation.”
“The interior of the nave is formed by an arcade resting on massive
pillars and dividing the church into a body and two aisles. The
eastern piers of the nave serve at the same time for the supports
of the cupola. They are wider than the other piers, and are flanked
by pilasters at their angles and have shallow oblong recesses in
the intercolumniations. The roof over these piers is a boldly
coffered waggon-vault, which contrasts very effectively with the
rest of the vaulting.
“The nave is separated from the choir by the area over which the
cupola rises. From the centre of this area, the transepts, or
traverse of the cross, diverge to the north and south, each
extending one severy, or arch, in length. The choir, which is
vaulted and domed over, like the nave and transepts, from the top
of the attic order, is terminated eastward by a semicircular
tribune, of which the diameter is, in general terms, the same as
the width of the choir itself. The western end of the choir has
pillars similar to those at the eastern end of the nave, uniform
with which there are at its eastern end piers of the same extent
and form, except that they are pierced for a communication with the
side aisles. Above the entablature and under the cupola is the
Whispering Gallery, and in the concave above are representations of
the principal passages of St. Paul’s life in eight compartments,
painted by Sir James Thornhill.”--(M.)
We should note that there are three stages--the main arcade, the
triforium and the clerestory. The piers are faced with Corinthian
pilasters that divide off the bays east and west. The arches spring from
an entablature. They are very high. The “triforium belt,” as the “attic”
is termed by those critics who have dropped the Classical nomenclature,
and clerestory above are easily understood at a glance.
“The great arches overhead divide the vault as the greater
pilasters and their continuations do the walls. Between these
arches are the small saucer-shaped domes, 26 feet in diameter. The
reason for these and their accessories, the pendentives, may best
be understood from Wren’s own words. He says that his method of
vaulting is the most geometrical, and ‘_is composed of Hemispheres,
and their Sections only; and whereas a Sphere may be cut all Manner
of Ways, and that still into Circles.... I have for just Reasons
followed this way in the Vaulting of the Church of St. Paul’s....
It is the lightest Manner, and requires less Butment than the
Cross-vaulting, as well that it is of an agreeable View....
Vaulting by Parts of Hemispheres I have therefore followed in the
Vaultings of St. Paul’s, and with good reason preferred it above
any other way used by Architects._’ The saucer-shaped domes are
sections of spheres, as are both the pendentives, and the sides of
the clerestory windows. The wreaths, garlands, and festoons, and
the various conventional patterns with which the edges and surfaces
of the various parts of the vaulting is adorned cannot be estimated
from the pavement.”--(A. D.)
From the Crypt to the dome the space measures 190 feet.
“When Wren planned his dome interior he had the difficulty caused
by the four limbs and their side aisles to overcome. He must have
turned to his uncle’s cathedral at Ely for enlightenment. In the
earlier years of the Fourteenth Century the central tower of Ely
collapsed, and the sacrist Alan de Walsingham, who acted as
architect, seeing that the breadth of his nave, choir and transepts
happened to agree, took for his base this common breadth, and
cutting off the angles, obtained a spacious octagon. The four sides
terminating the main aisles are longer than the four alternate
aisles at the angles of the side aisles; but at Ely this presents
no difficulty, owing to the use of the pointed arch. As you stand
in the centre of the octagon under the lantern you see eight
spacious arches of two different widths, all springing from the
same level and rising to the same height of eighty-five feet, the
terminal arch of the Norman nave pointed like its opposite
neighbour of the choir. Amongst Gothic churches the interior of Ely
reigns unique and supreme, certainly in England if not in Europe.
Wren was familiar with this cathedral, and even designed some
restorations for it; and he adopted the eight arches in preference
to any possible scheme of four great arches of sixty feet: but the
use of the round arch, as distinct from the pointed, deprived him
of Sacrist Alan’s liberty, who without incongruity made his
intermediate arches of the shorter sides, springing from the same
level, rise to the same height as the others. Wren was compelled to
make use of some expedient to reconcile his two different spaces
between piers of forty feet and twenty-six feet, and accordingly
arched these four smaller intermediate spaces as follows. A smaller
arch, rising from the architrave of the great pier, spans each
shorter side of the octagon, and has a ceiling or semi-dome in the
background, coming down to the terminal arches of the side aisles.
A blank wall space above is relieved by a section of an ornamental
arch of larger span, resting on the centre of the cornice; and
above this a third arch, rising from the level of the triforium
cornice, rests more upon the _outer_ side of the great supporting
pier, and thereby obtains the required equal span of forty feet,
and equal height of eighty-nine feet from the ground. This also has
a semi-dome; and the platform beneath on a level with the
clerestory is railed.
“The reduction of the octagon to the circle is facilitated by
giving the spandrels between the arches the necessary concave
surface; and this stage is finished off with a cantilever cornice,
the work (at least in part) of one Jonathan Maine. The eight great
keystones of the arches by Caius Gabriel Cibber are seven feet by
five, and eighteen inches in relief.”--(A. D.)
About a hundred feet from the pavement and the same distance across is
the celebrated =Whispering Gallery=, where a curious effect is obtained.
The attendant whispering across the whole area can be distinctly heard,
an acoustic property seemingly caused by the nearness of the concave
hemisphere above.
The =Cross= is quite 260 feet above us. The gallery projects so that the
lectern steps and the pulpit are underneath.
Now we come to the =Drum=. The actual bend inwards now begins, but for
this part only in straight lines. First comes the plain band or Podium,
panelled and of a height of twenty feet. On this stand thirty-two
pilasters, in reality, as well as in appearance, out of the horizontal.
Three out of each four
“intervening spaces are pierced with square-headed windows; and
from them such light as the dome receives, streams down through the
windows of the exterior colonnade. The alternate fourth recesses,
apparently nothing more than ornamental niches, conceal the
supports which bear the weight above. In the recent scheme of
decoration they have been filled with statues of Early Fathers--the
four eastern, SS. Chrysostom, Gregory Nazianzen, Basil, and
Athanasius; and the four western, SS. Ambrose, Augustine of Hippo,
Jerome, and Gregory.
“The straight lines bearing inwards give way to the sphere; and
here, too, the three separate coverings, which constitute the dome,
begin. The circular opening below the lantern coincides with the
lower edge of the fluting of the exterior shell, and is about two
hundred and fifteen feet from the pavement.
“These upper regions, hidden in an almost perpetual gloom, were
decorated in monochrome by Sir James Thornhill; but his work has
failed to resist the chemical action of the surcharged atmosphere.
In these compartments are scenes from the life of the patronal
saint: (1) The Conversion, (2) Elymas, (3) Cripple at Lystra, (4)
Jailer at Philippi, (5) Mars Hill, (6) Burning Books at Ephesus,
(7) Before Agrippa, (8) Shipwreck. We have all heard the story of
the painter, on a platform at a great height, who stepped back to
get a better view of his work. As he did so, an assistant, standing
by, brush in hand, observed with alarm that the slightest further
backward step would entail his falling headlong and being dashed to
pieces. He deliberately daubed the painting; and the artist,
stepping instinctively forward to prevent this, saved his life. The
painter is said to be Thornhill: the scene, the giddy height under
the dome.”--(A. D.)
The beautiful iron-work of the gates is by Tijou, both at the ends of
the aisles and doorways of the reredos arch. The =Choir-stalls= are by
Grinling Gibbons and are very ornate and handsome. The Lord Mayor’s
stall is on the left, or north side, and the Bishop of London’s on the
right, or south. The latter’s throne is near the altar. There are
thirty-one stalls altogether.
“The exquisite carvings of Grinling Gibbons in the stall-work of
the choir were not merely in themselves admirable, but in perfect
harmony with the character of the architecture. They rivalled, if
they did not surpass, all Mediæval works of their class in grace,
variety, richness; they kept up an inimitable unison of the lines
of the building and the decoration. In the words of Walpole ‘there
is no instance of a man before Gibbons who gave to wood the loose
and airy lightness of flowers and chained together the various
productions of the elements with a fine disorder natural to each
species.’”--(M.)
The =Organ= is one of the finest in the world. It was reconstructed by
Willis in 1897, and still contains parts of the original organ built by
the German, Schmidt, in 1697. It consists of 4,822 pipes and 102 stops
and is divided into two parts, placed on either side of the choir. These
are connected by pneumatic tubes beneath the floor. The keyboard is on
the north side.
The older part of the case with its foliage, figures and architectural
devices was also designed by Grinling Gibbons.
The =Altar= stands between the great eastern piers and is surmounted by a
tall reredos of white marble.
“The symbolism is expressed in the frieze above the Crucifixion,
‘Sic Deus dilexit mundum’ (‘God so loved the world’). The lower
part is pierced with doors on either side; and ‘Vas Electionis’ (‘A
chosen vessel’) over the north door refers to St. Paul, and ‘Pasce
oves meos’ (‘Feed my sheep’) over the other to St. Peter; and here
are the crossed swords, the arms of the diocese. The section above
has the Entombment in the centre, and the Nativity and Resurrection
on either side. A Crucifixion occupies the central position. The
framework is of Roman design, with pilasters and a round arch; and
remembering Wren’s conception, it is interesting that the columns
of Brescia marble, supporting the entablature above, are twisted.
This is flanked with a colonnade; the figure on the north being the
Angel Gabriel, and to the south the Virgin. Above the pediment is a
canopy with the Virgin and Child, and St. Peter and St. Paul to the
north and south; and above all, and nearly seventy feet from the
ground, the Risen Christ completes this most reverent design.
“The altar cross is adorned with precious stones and lapis lazuli;
and the massive copper candlesticks are imitations of the original
four said to have been sold during the Protectorate.”--(A. D.)
The apse behind the altar cut off by the reredos is now called the =Jesus
Chapel=. Over the altar here is a copy of Cima de Conegliano’s _Doubting
Thomas_ (in the National Gallery).
The apse and the vaulting and the walls of the choir and ambulatory have
in recent years been decorated by Sir William Richmond with
richly-coloured mosaics. The chief panels of the apse represent our
Lord enthroned, with recording angels on either side. In the choir the
three “saucer domes,” or cupolas, represent three Days of Creation:
Beasts, Fishes and birds. The four pendentives of each bay are decorated
with herald Angels, with extended arms. Mosaics of the Crucifixion,
Entombment, Resurrection and Ascension, also by Sir William Richmond,
adorn the “quarter domes.”
The eight paintings by Thornhill, of scenes from the life of St. Paul,
can be viewed properly only from the Whispering Gallery. In the niches
above this Gallery are statues of the Fathers of the Church. The
spandrels between the great arches are decorated by eight large mosaics
representing apostles and prophets: St. Matthew and St. John are by G.
F. Watts; St. Mark and St. Luke, by A. Brittan; and the four prophets
are the work of Alfred Stevens.
The =Transepts= are of one arch only. The windows are modern and represent
bishops and kings of early days. In the south transept aisle there is a
window commemorating the recovery of the Prince of Wales (Edward VII.)
in 1872; and a bronze tablet by Princess Louise in memory of “4,300 sons
of Britain beyond the seas” who were killed in the South African war of
1899-1901.
To the left of the chief entrance is =St. Dunstan’s Chapel=, sometimes
called the =North-West=, or =Morning Chapel=. It is richly decorated and
contains a Salviati mosaic representing the _Three Marys at the
Sepulchre_.
In the south aisle, opposite, is the =Chapel of the Order of St. Michael
and St. George=, a Colonial order, conferred only for distinguished
services beyond the seas. The Sovereign’s stall is at the western end;
and on each side of it is that of the Grand Master (Prince of Wales) and
the Duke of Connaught. From these diverge the oak stalls of the Knights
Grand Cross of the Order, over each of which is suspended a silk banner
with his personal arms. The richly-gilded ceiling is decorated with the
arms of the King, the Prince of Wales, the late Duke of Cambridge and
Sir Robert Herbert, who were responsible for the scheme. In the south
window is a kneeling figure of the donor, Sir Walter Wilkin. The chapel
was dedicated on June 13, 1906, in the presence of King Edward, the
Prince of Wales and many Knights.
Above this chapel the Library is situated to which the curious
=Geometrical Staircase= leads. This is circular, of a diameter of
twenty-five feet, and each step is supported by the one below it. This
is in the South tower.
St. Paul’s is second only to Westminster Abbey in the number of
Monuments to the celebrated dead. Immediately within the west door
stands a gilt monument to the officers and men of the =Coldstream Guards=
who fell in the South African War. In the north aisle of the nave we
come to monuments of =General Gordon=, a recumbent figure on a sarcophagus
by Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm; =Wellington=, by Alfred Stevens; =Lord Leighton=;
=Lord Melbourne=. In the north transept =Sir Joshua Reynolds=, by Flaxman;
and =Admiral Rodney=, by Rossi; in the south transept =Nelson=, by Flaxman,
who thus describes his work:
“Britannia is directing the young seamen’s attention to their great
example, Lord Nelson. On the die of the pedestal which supports
the hero’s statue are figures in basso-relievo, representing the
Frozen Ocean, the German Ocean, the Nile, and the Mediterranean. On
the cornice and in the frieze of laurel wreaths are the words,
Copenhagen, Nile, Trafalgar. The British Lion sits on the plinth,
guarding the pedestal.”
In the South transept: =Lord Cornwallis=, by Rossi, commemorates his
Indian career. He appears in his mantle of the Garter, with an
allegorical female figure of the Eastern Empire and a male figure
representing an Indian river.
At the east side of the south transept is the entrance to the =Crypt=,
sombre, dimly lighted and sepulchral. In the centre a circle of pillars
surrounds the tomb of =Nelson=, whose remains lie in a plain tomb under a
black-and-white sarcophagus (Sixteenth Century), which was made for
Cardinal Wolsey’s monument and confiscated with his other possessions.
Through a grating here the dim light from the far-away dome sifts down
upon England’s great admiral. To the left of Nelson lies =Collingwood=,
and, to the right, =Cornwallis=. Not far away we come to the simple tomb
of =Arthur, Duke of Wellington=, a great block of porphyry on a granite
base.
In the east recess of the south-choir-aisle is the grave of Sir
Christopher Wren marked by a plain black marble slab. On the wall is the
celebrated inscription: “_Lector, si monumentum requiris, circumspice_.”
Then comes =Painters’ Corner= with Sir Joshua Reynolds, Benjamin West,
Lawrence, Turner, Landseer, Millais, Leighton and others.
We have yet to make the ascent of St. Paul’s. The way is long and grows
more tedious and steeper as we ascend. It will be well to stop at the
Stone Gallery (200 feet high), for although the Golden Gallery, at the
top of the dome, is a hundred feet higher, the view is not so distinct.
The Stone Gallery is safe, and delightful views are to be had in the
spaces between the balustrades. The view extends from Harrow on the
north-west, to the Crystal Palace, Shooter’s Hill and Greenwich
Observatory in the south-east. The tourist will, however, take more
pleasure in looking over the territory covered by the Great Fire of 1666
and all the Wren steeples (there are thirty at least) that rise through
the mists below us. Here we again think of Sir Christopher’s genius and
remember again his epitaph: “If you wish an estimate of his genius, look
around.” It is interesting, too, to trace Fleet Street, Cheapside and
the other great arteries of traffic and travel, to look at the Thames
and understand its peculiar windings and to view from this height the
grim old Tower half a mile below London Bridge--the oldest building in
England and the most romantic. Without the Tower of London and without
St. Paul’s what would London be? Westminster Abbey is the church of the
King and the government; St. Paul’s is the church of the citizens, the
church that, as we have seen, has been a central point for the stirring
events of the City of London. Whenever the traveller thinks of London,
he sees its majestic dome rising above London Bridge or Ludgate Hill, or
Cheapside, purple in the mists, golden in the sunlight--the emblem of
London’s antiquity and its present immensity.
“I always endow St. Paul’s Cathedral with life and human nature and
sympathy. I cannot well explain what early associations and chances
have made St. Paul’s a more living influence to me than the much
grander and nobler Westminster Abbey; but so it is and I feel as
if St. Paul’s were a living influence over all that region of the
metropolis which is surveyed by its ball and its cross. But in
another sense it is unlike other buildings to me. It is not one
long-lived, long-living cathedral; it is rather a generation of
cathedrals. Westminster Abbey takes us back in unbroken continuity
of history to the earlier days of England’s budding greatness.
Westminster itself, nevertheless, was only called so in the
beginning to distinguish it from the earlier East Minster, which
was either the existing St. Paul’s or a cathedral standing on Tower
Hill. It would seem, then, that St. Paul’s rather than Westminster
Abbey ought to represent the gradual movement of English history
and English thought and the growth of the metropolis. But observe
the difference. Westminster Abbey has always since its erection
been sedately watching over London. It has been reconstructed here
and there, of course--repaired and renovated, touched up and
decorated with new adornments in tribute of grateful piety; but it
is ever and always the same Westminster Abbey. Now observe the
history of St. Paul’s. St. Paul’s has fallen and died time after
time, and been revived and restored. It has risen new upon new
generations. It has perished in flame again and again, like a
succession of martyrs, and has come up afresh and with new spangled
ore flamed in the forehead of the morning sky. St. Paul’s is a
religious or ecclesiastical dynasty rather than a cathedral. It has
been destroyed so often and risen again in so many different
shapes, that it seems as if each succeeding age were putting its
fresh stamp and mint-mark on it and so commending it to the special
service of each new generation.”--(J. McC.)
[Illustration: ST. PAUL’S: CHOIR, EAST]
[Illustration: ST. SAVIOUR’S, SOUTHWARK]
ST. SAVIOUR’S, SOUTHWARK
FORMERLY THE COLLEGIATE CHURCH OF ST. SAVIOUR; AND ST. MARY OVERIE,
SOUTHWARK.
SPECIAL FEATURES: CENTRAL TOWER; CHOIR-SCREEN; TOMB OF JOHN GOWER;
HARVARD WINDOW; WINDOWS TO ELIZABETHAN DRAMATISTS.