Chapter XIV: Architecture of the Renaissance in England

II. _Jones and Wren_

The architecture of England in the seventeenth century
properly called Renaissance only by extension of the term--Jones
and Wren the only architects of importance at this
time--Walpole’s extravagant estimate of Inigo Jones--The early
career of Jones--His design for the Banqueting Hall of the
palace of Whitehall--Its lack of English character--Analysis of
the design--Kent’s exaggerated estimate of Jones’s genius--The
scheme for the whole palace--Jones’s design for the façade of
old St. Paul’s--Thoughtless laudation of the art of Inigo
Jones--Sir Christopher Wren--Artistic notions of the English
dilettanti in the seventeenth century--Wren’s architectural
training--His visit to France--The Sheldonian Theatre--Wren’s
project for repairs of old St. Paul’s--His commission to
rebuild--His first scheme for the new edifice--Sources of
inspiration for the great dome--Rejection of the first
scheme--The so-called warrant design--The existing edifice--The
structural system of the dome--Character of the interior of the
church--The masking of the buttress system--Wren’s city
churches 226

CHAPTER XV