Scale
5 feet to 1 inch
Inscribed
In ink by Hawksmoor at top right: Enl (Ent[ablature]?): - 31.9 / Cor - 2 – 6 / freec – 1 – 5 / Arch: 1 – 10 / Pill – 26 – 0; and below, right of cornice mouldings of ground-floor piers: Memd:d / A . the moulding at A to project / halfe the depth of the same; and many inscribed dimensions, mostly in pen and brown ink but some in graphite or re-written in ink over graphite; and in ink by Dance, at top left, Gd, and to right in C19 hand, (13)
Signed and dated
- Undated, but datable 1689-90
Medium and dimensions
Pen and brown ink over graphite under-drawing and some under-scoring; on laid paper, laid down; large area of pinkish-brown staining in left third of sheet, with some cracking and erosion of paper, backed with repair strip (55 mm wide) on edge of sheet (probably 1850 repair); 322 x 452
Hand
Hawksmoor
Watermark
CL with looped flourish (countermark?)
Notes
Like 2, above (110/15), this drawing offers ample evidence for Hawksmoor’s hand and technique in 1689. More importantly, however, it illustrates his close involvement in final adjustments to the dimensions of the central applied portico of the Park front and revisions to the overall design of the two connected façades. An initial sequence of vertical dimensions on the left-hand column and entablature has been struck through in pen or rubbed out. The column height, 26 – 0, marked in graphite, is correct by the scale but is amended in pen to 25 feet 3 inches. Above the columns, the architrave, frieze and cornice entablature are inscribed in graphite as 1 foot 10 inches, 1 foot 5 inches and 2 feet 6 inches respectively – a total of 5 feet 9 inches. All these initial dimensions are those tabulated in ink at the top right side of the sheet. But while the taller column height scales correctly, the entablature scales slightly lower than 5 feet 9 inches and its frieze is drawn the same height as the architrave, rather than 5 inches shorter. The scaled dimensions for the entablature correspond closely to those marked vertically in ink and totalling 5 feet 7 inches. It would appear, therefore, that the column and entablature heights were being reconsidered as the drawing was being prepared, and that the entablature was reduced in anticipation of a lower column height. The revised dimensions for the entablature are similar to those on Hawksmoor’s large-scale, detailed drawing inscribed, Entablature for the Front next ye Parke (7, below; 110/61). This drawing bears witness to the same process of revision, since its left-hand profile adopts the initial dimensions of this design.
Literature
Wren Society, IV, pl. 20
Level
Drawing
Digitisation of the Drawings Collection has been made possible through the generosity of the Leon Levy Foundation
