The west front of St Paul's
Item
Description
A view from slightly south of west of St Paul's cathedral showing the old Chapter House and the new classical portico built in the early modern period.
Title
The west front of St Paul's
Creator
Hollar, Wenceslas
Date
1658
Medium
Copper Etching
Dimensions
Image: 217 X 261 mm; Plate: 228 X 270 mm
Original Publication
Dugdale, William. The History of St Paul’s Cathedral, p.172. London: Thomas Warren, 1658.
Source
Dugdale, William. The History of St Paul’s Cathedral, p.172. London: Thomas Warren, 1658.
Notes
In the Monasticon version, the cartouche on the upper right now contains a coat of arms. The lower cartouche now contains a dedication by IOH: ROBINSON. '164' is added in the upper left corner of the design.
The portico depicted in the image was designed by Inigo Jones in the 1630's when he was tasked with refacing St Paul's cathedral. This was partially funded by Charles I, causing Jones to altar his original, more Italianate, design for the west front.
While some of Jones' work on St Paul's was reparative, the west front included the addition of a Classically-influenced portico that was not part of the original medieval structure.
The portico depicted in the image was designed by Inigo Jones in the 1630's when he was tasked with refacing St Paul's cathedral. This was partially funded by Charles I, causing Jones to altar his original, more Italianate, design for the west front.
While some of Jones' work on St Paul's was reparative, the west front included the addition of a Classically-influenced portico that was not part of the original medieval structure.
Location
St Paul's cathedral
Period
eng
Early modern (late 16th-17th century)
Image Category
eng
Print
Image Source URL
Image Publisher
Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto
Image Right Holder
Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto
Inscriptions
Upper right corner: two empty cartouches.
Reproductions
Hind, Arthur M. Wenseslas Hollar and His Views of London and Windsor in the Seventeenth Century. London: Bodley Head, 1922, p. 187, plate XXXVII
Subject
Cathedral
Bibliographic Citation
Hart, Vaughan. "Inigo Jones's Site Organization at St. Paul's Cathedral: 'Ponderous Masses Beheld Hanging in the Air.'" Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 53: 4 (Dec., 1994): 414-427.
Parry, Graham and Michiyo Takano. "The illustrations to Dugdale’s History of St Paul’s Cathedral: Subscribers and their Sentiments." The Seventeenth Century (2020): 473-495
Pennington, R. A Descriptive Catalogue of the Etched Work of Wenceslas Hollar 1607-1677. Cambridge: University Press, 2010, p.178, no. 1020
Cataloguer
Ashlinn Casey
Coverage
Medieval London
Type
Still image
image
Still Image
