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