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Sir John Soane’s Symbolic Westminster: The Apotheosis of George IV

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 April 2016

Sean Sawyer
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Extract

      Bid Harbours open, Public Ways extend;
      Bid temples, worthier of the God, ascend;
      Bid the broad Arch the dang’rous flood contain;
      The Mole projected break the roaring main;
      Back to his bounds the subject Sea command,
      And roll obedient Rivers thro’ the land;
      These Honours, Peace to happy Britain brings,—
      These are Imperial Works, and worthy Kings.

Fortified by Pope’s century-old call for the use of royal riches to civic ends, John Soane’s Designs for Public Improvements in London and Westminster of September 1827 culminated a summer-long campaign on the part of the 74-year-old architect to bring his works to the notice of George IV. Both were men entering their last years under the cloud of public disapproval, for the King a nearly lifelong state of affairs but for Soane the result of pointed criticism of his recently completed Law Courts at Westminster. He was determined to defend and enhance his reputation as a public architect and set about doing so with a flurry of publications produced from 1827 to 1834. Principal among these was the enlarged ‘second impression’ of 1828 of Designs for Public Improvements in London and Westminster. Dedicated to the King, this folio consists of a thirty-six-page-long descriptive text followed by fifty-five line engravings depicting a variety of Soane’s works both public and private. However, the first twenty-four plates form a distinct group presenting a coherent programme of royally sponsored public works that, I will argue, delineate Westminster as a civic space symbolic of the Crown’s historic legitimacy and continued relevance to contemporary society. This programme combines three of Soane’s recently completed public works projects, including the Law Courts, with three projected designs to constitute a royal processional route through Westminster which I shall analyze as employing narrative, expressive, and numinous symbolic modes.

Type
Research Article
Information
Architectural History , Volume 39 , 1996 , pp. 54 - 76
Copyright
Copyright © Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain 1996

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References

Notes

1 These are the closing lines of Alexander Pope’s ‘An Epistle to Richard Boyle, Earl of Burlington, Of the Use of Riches’ (1731), quoted by Soane, John, Designs for Public Improvements in London and Westminster (London, 1828), p. 1 Google Scholar. (All references to the copy in the Avery Art and Architectural Library, Columbia University.)

2 This was initiated by Sir Charles Long, Lord Farnborough, when he wrote to Soane on 29 May 1827 to inform him that he had offered Soane’s drawing for a royal palace in his possession to the King, knowing that ‘it will be gratifying to him to have a design of yours in his Portfolio’ (Soane Museum, Private Correspondence (hereafter SM Corr.) III.L.13.9). On 1 June Soane offered to present the King with the drawing of the palace scheme then in the annual Royal Academy exhibition (SM Corr. III.L.13.10). Farnborough notified Soane of the King’s acceptance of this offer on 9 June and on the following evening they discussed the transaction over dinner at Sir Robert Peel’s (SM Corr. III.L.13.11). The drawing itself was dispatched to Windsor on 17 July with Soane stressing to his Lordship that ‘this distinguished mark of his Majesty’s approbation of my humble efforts is one of the most consoling circumstances of my Life; — which I feel the more deeply it being the only opportunity I have ever had of offering my duty & of having any design of mine fairly before the Sovereign since His Majesty was Prince of Wales’ (SM Corr. III.L.13.12). Lest Farnborough think that such consolation was enough, Soane wrote to him on 20 August that ‘the very flattering reception which His Majesty … has been pleased to give to my humble, but zealous efforts, has awakened in my mind the desire to collect together some of the designs for the improvement of London & Westminster I made, at different times in the course of a long professional life now drawing rapidly to a close, with a view of dedicating the work to His Majesty … ‘ (SM Corr. III.L.13.14). Farnborough reported the King’s ‘high respect’ for Soane and his acquiescence to this proposition on 2 September (SM Corr. III.L.13.15). Soane conveyed copies of the finished work to Farnborough and the King, the royal copy having the original drawings in place of the engravings, on 24 September (SM Corr. III.L.13.19).

3 Robin Middleton concentrates on sorting out this complex group of publications in his entry on Soane in the forthcoming catalogue of the Miliard Collection of English architectural books (Robin Middleton, Nicholas Savage, and Beasley, Gerard, The Mark J. Miliard architectural collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, forthcoming)Google Scholar.

4 Again, these are the somewhat arbitrary but effective categories of symbolism that structured Prof. Edin’s session.

5 Soane introduces the notion of a processional route connecting these seven designs in his description of the ‘Design for a Royal Palace’ at which time he reincorporates the gateway designs presented in Plates i and ii, saying ‘The principal Approach for His Majesty from Windsor Casde into the New Palace was intended to be through Hyde Park, under the Arched Entrance into Piccadilly, — crossing that Street to the Lodges in front of the Palace … ‘ (Soane, Designs for Public Improvements, p. 3). The first mention of this processional route occurs in an addendum of 12 May 1827 to A Brief Statement concerning the Law Courts at Westminster … (London, 1827). (Robin Middleton, personal correspondence, 28 March 1994.)

6 This is an educated guess. Little research has been done on pre-Victorian royal ceremonial, and studies of modern royal ritual emphasize the degree to which the traditions are largely Victorian or Edwardian inventions. Notably, however, David Cannadine finds George IV precocious, although ineffective, in his approach to ceremony: ‘It is important to stress that there is much about George IV’s public style that anticipates subsequent developments: grandeur in London (Regent Street), royal visits (to Scotland and Ireland), and an expensive Coronation. My point is that, despite all this, without the appropriate concatenation of contextual circumstance (as was to occur later), it simply did not work’ ( Cannadine, David, ‘The Context, Performance and Meaning of Ritual: The British Monarchy and the “Invention of Tradition”, c 1820-1977,’ in The Invention of Tradition, eds. Hobsbawm, Eric and Ranger, Terence (Cambridge, 1983), footnote 55, pp. 101-64 (pp. 117-18).)Google Scholar

7 Soane had been consulted at the initiation of the project in 1823 but did not subsequendy submit a scheme of his own. This was probably due to his awareness of the King’s prejudice toward the ingratiating Wyatville who was prepared to commit himself fully to the work ( Crook, J. Mordaunt and Port, M. H., The History of the King’s Works, Vol. VI, 1782-1851, general ed. Colvin, H. M. (London, 1973), p. 380.Google Scholar)

8 This arch was, according to Soane’s text, designed during his tenure as Deputy Surveyor of His Majesty’s Woods and Forests (1795-99) and approved by George III but ‘was postponed on account of the expense’ (Soane, Designs for Public Improvements, p. 1).

9 George IV reportedly gave Soane’s proposals short shrift since Soane had not paid adequate attention to his task, as Attached Architect to the Board of Works responsible for Westminster, of designing the fittings for the King’s Coronation on 19 July 1821 ( Bolton, Arthur T., The Portrait of Sir John Soane, R.A. (London, 1927), p. 353)Google Scholar. This suggests that Soane might have been partially motivated to organize the presentation of his public works projects via a royal processional route as recompense for this failing and in order to engage the attention of a King who was enthralled by such pageantry.

10 ‘ …if George IV could be irritating to those responsible for governing in his name, in other ways he fulfilled monarchical functions with some skill. The aristocracy dominated Britain in these years, and George, both as Prince Regent and as King, took an active lead in aristocratic society. To a greater extent than his more virtuous father, he succeeded in establishing the influence of the monarchy in many of the tastes and the activities of the aristocracy’ ( McCord, Norman, British History, 1815—1906 (Oxford, 1991), p. 89)Google Scholar. This is also the point on which modern biographers attempt to redeem George IV’s reputation. For instance, see Hibbert, Christopher, George IV, Regent and King (New York, 1973)Google Scholar and Priesdey, J. B., The Prince of Pleasure and his Regency (New York, 1969)Google Scholar.

11 Soane, Designs for Public Improvements, p. 3.

12 Bolton, Portrait, p. 354.

13 The Duke of York died in January 1827, and Soane had subsequendy been approached to design a monument in his memory by a Committee formed for that purpose. He presented them with at least two distinct schemes, including the Monopteral Temple mentioned here, but nothing came of either.

14 Soane, Designsfor Public Improvements, p. 5.

15 Crook and Port, Works, VI, p. 551.

16 Soane, Designs for Public Improvements, p. 6.

17 Westminster Hall was restored under Soane’s supervision from August 1819 to the Spring of 1823. Henry VII’s Chapel was restored by James Wyatt as Architect to the Dean and Chapter of Westminster beginning in 1793, and St Margaret’s Church was restored by S. P. Cockerell between 1799 and 1802. The urban clearance and renewal works were chiefly administered by the Westminster Improvements Commission formed in 1800 from the Westminster Sessions House Committee of 1777 and the parliamentary committee responsible for improving the approaches to the Houses of Parliament of 1792 (Crook and Port, Works, VI, pp. 502-03, 515-17).

18 ‘On arriving at the New Carriage Entrance, the Procession is formed, — His Majesty alights, passes along the Corridor leading to the Scala Regia, through the Ante-Room, Royal Gallery, and Painted Chamber, into the Robing-room, and from thence into the House of Lords … ‘ (Soane, Designs for Public Improvements, p. 18.)

19 Soane expanded his commission to rebuild the House of Lords’ accommodations to comprise a comprehensive reconstruction of the whole palatial complex. However, despite careful manoeuvring and eight months of design work, the project was delayed by Lord Grenville and eventually usurped by James Wyatt, who recast the west façade on Old Palace Yard in a meagre, shabbily built castellated style from 1799-1812.

20 Soane, Designs for Public Improvements, p. 23.

21 In particular, Piranesi’s fantastic reconstructions of ancient Rome in Prima parte di architetture e prospettive of 1743 and Campo Marzio of 1762 made a strong impression on the youthful Soane who, with Sir William Chambers’ introduction, visited the Italian master just prior to his death on 9 November 1778 ( Stroud, Dorothy, Sir John Soane, Architect (London, 1984), p. 32)Google Scholar.

22 Brian Lukacher suggestively analyzes this rendering as a dream-like allegory of Soane’s unfulfilled desires for recognition as an architect of monumental civic structures in ‘John Soane and his Draughtsman Joseph Michael Gandy’, Daidalos, 25 (15 September 1987), pp. 51-64 (pp.57-58).

23 SirSoane, John, Lectures on Architecture, ed. Bolton, Arthur T. (London: 1929), p. 15 Google Scholar.

24 ‘London is the place where an impression as to the state of our Art is first made, the spot from whence Art itself is expected to emanate. It is the place wherein the wealthy and enlightened of every class are congregated; it must therefore be considered as the great Theatre best suited for displaying the abilities, and calling into action the talents of the learned of every description’ (Soane, Lectures, p. 157).

25 ‘In many of our Private, and even in some of our Public Buildings, on which immense sums have been expended, it has been on the interior. It has seldom happened that the exteriors of them have in any manner indicated the great expense that has been incurred in their construction … Even when it is otherwise, they are frequently placed in narrow Streets so as not to be seen … ‘ (Soane, Lectures, p. 158).

26 The reference is to Gwynn’s, John London and Westminster Improved, to Which is prefixed a Discourse on Publiek Magnificence (London, 1766)Google Scholar, which presented a visionary programme of urban renewal and public works projects. These included the construction of a new royal palace in Hyde Park, a new Bank of England complex on the site of the existing, and a new Parliamentary complex on its existing site — all notions taken up and, indeed, partially realized by Soane.

27 Soane, Lectures, p. 166.

28 Stroud, Soane, pp. 97, 103.

29 Soane’s Parisian itineraries are an area requiring and receiving further investigation. However, he certainly was concerned to see all the major Napoleonic public works and had Henry Parke, the student who accompanied him on his 1819 trip, draw illustrations for his Lectures of the Place Vendôme, Arc de Triomphe, and the interior of the Panthéon (to supplement the exterior views he already had Lecture illustrations for), as well as many other Parisian monuments both public and private. Moreover, Soane’s enthusiasm for the work of Percier and Fontaine, as well as their imperial patron, is evidenced by his purchase of their Description des ceremonies et des fites … pour le marriage de S. M. l’Empereur Napoléon avec… Marie-Louise d’Autriche (1810) and Joséphine Buonaparte’s signed copy of their Palais, Maisons et autres edifices modernes (1798) with coloured plates on his previous visit during the 100 Days in 1814. Harris, Eileen, ‘Sir John Soane’s Library: “O, Books! Ye Monuments of Mind’”, Apollo, April 1990, pp. 242-47 (pp. 245–46)Google Scholar.

30 Robin Middleton, personal communication.

31 Soane, A Brief Statement…, p. 29. Emphasis his. (Reference to the copy in the collection of the Fine Arts Library, University of Pennsylvania.) I quote this slightly later appearance of this text since it is the first instance in which I encountered it and is identical to that appended to the earlier Designs for Public Improvements in London and Westminster.

32 Augustan Rome is also the exemplar cited by James Elmes in the introductory paragraph to his Metropolitan Improvements; or London in the Nineteenth Century … of 1829: Augustus made it one of his proudest boasts, that he found Rome of brick, and left it of marble. The reign and regency of George the Fourth have scarcely done less, for the vast and increasing Metropolis of the British empire: by increasing its magnificence and its comforts; by forming healthy streets and elegant buildings … ; and, by beginning, and continuing with a truly national perseverance, a series of desirable improvements, that bid fair to render London, the Rome of modern history’ ( Elmes, James with illustrations by Shepard, Thomas H., Metropolitan Improvements; or London in the Nineteenth Century … (London, 1829/ reprinted New York, 1978), pp. 1–2)Google Scholar.

33 Soane, Designs for Public Improvements, p. 1.

34 This was memorably illustrated in his Ruines des plus beaux monuments de la Grèce (Paris, 1758), a copy of which Soane proudly owned. Harris, ‘SirJohn Soane’s Library’, p.244.

35 On the Festa della Chinea, see most recendy: Moore, John E., ‘Prints, Salami, and Cheese: Savoring the Roman Festival of the Chinea’, Art Bulletin, LXXVII, 4 (December 1995), pp. 584–608 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

36 Notably, Soane had originally proposed a soberer elevation with projecting Ionic porches, but Frederick Robinson, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, had insisted on a more grandiose design and referred Soane to the Jones-Webb designs for Whitehall Palace. Robinson was also responsible for insisting on the greater magnificence of expression to be derived from the use of the so-called Jupiter Stator capital versus Soane’s preferred Tivoli capital. (Crook and Port, Works, VI, pp. 552-53.)

37 The porte cochère was added by direction of George IV in the course of the works in September 1822. (Crook and Port, Works, VI, p. 521.)

38 Harris, John, ‘Soane’s classical triumph: A lost Westminster masterpiece revealed’, Apollo, (May 1992), pp. 288-90 (p. 290)Google Scholar.

39 The Scala Regia had formed an essential part of his 1794-95 parliamentary designs (see a sketch on the verso of a sheet dated 21 July 1794) (Soane Museum, Drawings Collection (hereafter SM Coll.) 16/4/20V) and therefore precedes Chalgrin’s comparable stair at the Palais du Luxembourg by a decade.

40 Bill from T. Palmer & Son, Plasterers dated 1 February 1823. (SM Corr. XI.H.6).

41 Soane specified that the two principal paintings were to depict the victories of Trafalgar and Waterloo, but these were apparendy never commissioned, since Soane wrote to the Duke of Sussex on 25 October 1831 lamenting that ‘So many years have elapsed … I fear the pictures are quite forgotten: with those decorations the whole composition would present uniformity & symmetry’ (SM Corr. XIV.G.1.1) and apparendy offering to pay for their execution and supervise their installation himself (SM Corr. XIV.G. 1.3). Soane’s proposed decorative scheme for the Royal Gallery mirrors the militaristic decoration Chalgrin proposed for the Salon de l’Empereur and the Salle des Séances du Sénat at the Palais du Luxembourg in projects dating from 1800–05. See Martial, Philippe, ‘Chalgrin, Architecte du Palais’, in Palais et jardins du Luxembourg (Paris, 1994), pp. 68–91 Google Scholar.

42 SM Coll. 71/2/65, 66, & 84. The plan (71/2/84) is inscribed to this effect.

43 This evocation of a building’s history, frequendy more fiction than fact, is particularly palpable in Gandy’s well known rendering of the Bank of England complex in a ruined state and in the ‘Monk’s Parlour’ at Lincoln’s Inn Fields. Soane’s construction of such mythic narratives around his works merits more investigation, especially in relation to Gandy’s historical and philosophical endeavours. See Lukacher, Brian, ‘Joseph Gandy and the Mythography of Architecture’, Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, 53 (September 1994), pp. 280-99, n. 3CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

44 The debate was on a Treasury Bill of Supply for public works and initiated by Henry Bankes, MP for Corfe Casde, Dorset, whose ultimate goal was to force the redesign of Soane’s Law Courts then in construction. (Parliamentary Debates, ed. T. C. Hansard, Vol. X (3 February - 29 March 1824), 1 March 1824, col. 627.)

45 As inscribed on SM Coll. 71/2/84. This statement echoes the sentiment expressed by the Prince Regent himself shortly after Waterloo when he suggested to the Chancellor of the Exchequer that the balance of increased government revenues be transferred to his private coffers ‘in consideration of his exertions’ and all he had done for the nation ‘as well as the world’ (Hibbert, p. 80).

46 These connotations of the Egyptian hall are elaborated in Rudolf Wittkower’s essay on Lord Burlington’s Assembly Hall at York ( Wittkower, Rudolf, ‘Lord Burlington’s Work at York’, in Palladio and English Palladianism (London, 1985 [1974]), pp. 133-44 (pp. 137–38)Google Scholar.)

47 As far as I have yet been able to ascertain, there is no extant perspective labeled ‘C’ illustrating what Soane proposed for the Painted Chamber. As evidenced in the Commons’ debate on 1 March 1824, however, any significant alterations to this structure would have been met with ferocious opposition, and Soane later asserted that he only rebuilt the portal leading from the Royal Gallery (Soane, Designs for Public Improvements, p. 18). However, Soane also replaced the ceiling and floor of the Painted Chamber during the course of his works at the House of Lords (Crook and Port, Works, VI, p. 519, footnote 3 and p. 521, footnote 10). As a result of these works, there is one of the wooden paterae from the medieval ceiling in the Soane Museum along with numerous other fragments of medieval ornamentation, including the four pedestals from the north front of Westminster Hall placed on the front façade of 13 Lincoln’s Inn Fields in 1825. For a discussion of the Painted Chamber paterae and other fragments from the medieval Palace of Westminster in the Soane Museum see: Rogers, Phillis M., ‘Medieval Fragments from the Old Palace of Westminster in the Sir John Soane’s Museum’, in Parliamentary History, Libraries and Records, Essays presented to Maurice Bond, ed. Cobb, H. S. (House of Lords Record Office, 1981), pp. 1–8 Google Scholar; Binski, Paul, The Painted Chamber at Westminster, Society of Antiquaries Occasional Paper, New Series, IX (1986), p. 4 and pl. xxxiiiGoogle Scholar (I am grateful to Andor Gomme for this reference); and John Cherry and Neil Stratford, Westminster Kings and the medieval Palace of Westminster, British Museum Occasional Paper 115, Department of Medieval and Later Antiquities (1995), pp. 22, 55, 65-67, 74, and 79.