[10/2] Presentation design for the new north elevation of the King Charles II Building and base wing, datable 1711-12, involving the doubling of the north pavilion of the King Charles II Building and the addition of a linking bay with an arched entrance at ground level.

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English Baroque Drawings: architecture, sculpture and garden design
- Greenwich Royal Hospital
  - Designs for completing the main courts and river wall, 1711-14

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Reference number

SM volume 111/8

Purpose

[10/2] Presentation design for the new north elevation of the King Charles II Building and base wing, datable 1711-12, involving the doubling of the north pavilion of the King Charles II Building and the addition of a linking bay with an arched entrance at ground level.

Aspect

Elevation

Scale

10 feet to approximately ¾ inch

Inscribed

on verso, see below

Signed and dated

Undated, but datable 1711-12

Medium and dimensions

Pen and brown ink with grey wash over graphite under-drawing; on laid paper, inlaid on C19 mount; small old tear at near top right-hand corner; 176 x 352

Hand

John James

Verso

In pen and brown ink by John James with monetary calculations in pounds, shillings and pence, although monetary symbols are not given: [£]159 : 08 : 07 / 10 : 19 : 4 / 8 : 01 : 8 / [total] 178 : 9 : 7 ; [s.] 8 = 3 / 10 = 0 / [£] 5 = 05 [blank] / [total] 6 = 03 = 03; and several other numbers and pen trials.

Watermark

No watermark

Notes

The hand of the inscriptions on the verso is James's. The drawing was probably prepared at about the time that the directors of the General Court approved Hawksmoor's 'draught of the whole design of the Hospital in perspective, and also the ground plan' on 15 November 1711, and ordered him to have it engraved (see [10/1]). At the same meeting the directors decided replace the brick-built pavilion of the base wing of King Charles II Building with a stone-clad pavilion to match that of John Webb's building 'as expressed in the perspective before mentioned'. James could have prepared this drawing along with his east elevation [10/1] to inform Hawksmoor's perspective; or it could have been made shortly after 11 November 1711 as a full representation of the intended design. An estimate for this design was called for on 8 May 1712.

By 1714 the central bay of the design at ground and first-floor level had been modified. The ground-floor arch was built as a Doric-style opening based on Vignola's published design of entrance to the Palazzo Farnese at Caprarola. Above this is a pediment over a blank panel, and above the pediment another blank panel.

In technique and architectural detail the drawing corresponds very closely to [10/1], although the scales are not identical.

Literature

Wren Society, VI, pl. 44, left

Level

Drawing

Digitisation of the Drawings Collection has been made possible through the generosity of the Leon Levy Foundation

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