Marca 1, 1872. THE BUILDING NEWS. 179
SSS — eee ee
PRIZE DRAWINGS AT THE INSTITUTE.
- qe large meeting room of the Institute of
~ British Architects presents at this mo- ment very much the appearance of an exhibi- tion gallery, hung roundas itis by the competi- tive drawings sent in for the prizes offered to students. These drawings are, we are happy to say, so numerous this year that besides occupying almost all the available wall space in the great room, they overflow into the library, where the book-cases are obscured by a series of large strainers containing the drawings for the three prizes placed at the disposal of the Institute by Mr. Peek, of Wimbledon. It has often been said by those who have the conduct of the business of the Institute that it is not and cannot be an educational establishment. The first part of this assertion is but partly true ; the re- mainder of it is, we venture to assert, a mis- take. No better mode of utilising the large influence, ample library, considerable funds, and spacious rooms of this central society could be devised than one which would add to the present meetings of members an attractive and useful series of classes and lectures for students. Evyen without this the result of what is done in the way of testing attainments and encouraging diligence by examinations and prizes tends to a consider- able extent to educate the students who come within its scope. No one can spend even ten minutes looking over the collection of drawings to which we have directed attention without feeling that the making of them must have been most serviceable to all the competitors, and that in directing the students towards such subjects of study, and in stimulating their exertions, the Institute is really doing educational work. Any one who will take up a list of those who in past years have gained the medals and prizes of the Institute will notice that by far the larger number of them have achieved success in after life. This fact can be not only quoted in support of our assertion that the work is educational in its tendency, but affords good ground for the congratulations which we can offer to the as yet unknown authors of the successful designs, whose efforts have placed them in a position so honourable to them now and so full of hope for the future. Drawings for five different prizes have been submitted, all of them under motto, and though the prizes will not be adjudged till Monday next, at a special meeting held for the purpose, when the enyelopes containing the names will be opened, the decision of the judges has been made known, and the sets of drawings recommended are labelled, so that a visitor need have no trouble in recognising them. The most important prize offered is the Soane Medallion, which carries with ita sum of £50 to be paid to the successful competitor, after satisfactory proof of his having prose- cuted his studies on the Continent—satisfac- tory proof in this case meaning a batch of good sketches senthome. The set of plans which have obtained this prize for their author is marked ‘‘ Steadfast.” The subject is an original design for a Town Hall in a country town. The design is well worked out, though the plan is not at first sight a very taking one, and inferior in simplicity to some others of those submitted. he style is Gothic, of a very French character, and the architectural treatment has been very consistently worked out. There is a taking perspective appended to this set of drawings, which, if not perfectly accurate in its draw- ing, still deserves commendation on the whole, while the draughtsmanship of the set of geometric elevations and details merits sincere commendation. The authors of the other designs submitted mostly adopt a some- what similar style of architecture, though one of them, marked ‘“ Excalibur,” is Classic Second, perhaps, in importance—though not in the money-value of the prize—is the Tnstitute’s Silver Medal, which, with five
guineas in money, is given, not to an original design, but toa set of drawings illustrating an existing building, and based upon sketches and measurements made upon the spot. A very good competition has taken place for this prize, and one of the best sets of such drawings ever submitted has carried it off. These are the work of a competitor who has used the motto ‘‘ Forte scutum salus ducum,” and has chosen Tattersall Castle, Lincoln- shire for illustration. ‘The building has been fully, carefully, and patiently delineated ; the drawings are throughout modest and exact, and they are free from the modern ‘“ slap- dash” style of effective and inexact work- manship which relies upon blotsand scratches and back-lining to attract the eye, rather than upon truthful and careful delineation. Others of the sets of plans submitted have very great merit, and the drawings of All Saint’s Church, Edington, Wiltshire, marked “‘ Alta Troll,” are to receive, as an extra prize, a Silver Medal of merit; while two other sets have well earned an honourable mention—namely, those marked ‘‘ Espe- rance,” illustrating S. Leonard’s Priory, Stamford ; and those marked “ Justa,” illus- trating Publow Church, Somersetshire. Looking at the very great labour which attends this competition, and at the very moderate reward which even the most sucess- ful competitor obtains, we cannot but think that the Institute would do a graceful and becoming act if it marked its sense of the way in which this prize has been competed for by voting on Monday night a sum of money to be divided among these four com- petitors, either in books or cash, as they prefer. The Institute could very well spare £10, which would allow the money prize obtained by the first competitor to be a little increased, and would still leave some- thing substantial for the other three. The third Institute prize is simply a prize in books, open to students of the Institute. A simple subject, ‘‘ A staircase in a domestic building,” was proposed, and only two sets of drawings appear to have been sent in. We are aware that the number of students of the Institute is very limited, but still we hope that another year will see this prize more sought after, and a rather higher standard of merit reached. The drawings in the library are those sent in for the prizes offered by Mr. Peek, for the best sets of drawings for the restoration of two ancient buildings—Eastbury Manor House, and the Convent Gateway, Barking. These prizes are worth getting. ‘The first one (of forty guineas), for the Manor, is carried off by the drawings marked “Stet Fortuna Domis,” and the second (of £20) by the drawings marked ‘ Brigand.” Eight com- petitors were attracted, and nearly all of them have done their work well. The actual placing of the competitors turned, as was natural in such a competition, on the archeo- logical knowledge displayed by them in the restoration of parts which are now defaced, quite as much as on their skill as draughts- men. Both the premiated sets, and several of the other sets, are excellent in their execu- tion, and the result ought to be gratifying to Mr. Peek, whose liberality has borne good fruit. A prize of £10, offered for the restora- tion of the Gate House, a smaller and less difficult subject, has been awarded to the drawings marked ‘ Earconwald,” a _ well- executed set of plans. These competitions, as a whole, certainly show signs of promise. ‘The general style of the drawings sent in is good; the energy with which the prizes have been competed for is very praiseworthy, and we cannot help hoping that that very respectable but very timid body, the Institute of British Archi- tects, encouraged, and, perhaps, a little sur- prised at finding it has done a rather good thing, may another year venture a little further in the same direction,
CRITICAL NOTES ON GREAT
ITALIAN ARCHITECTS.—VII.
By J. B. Warine.
VIGNOLA AND PALLADIO.
E concluded our last notice with some
remarks on the characters of three of
the greatest of Italian artists who were dis-
tinguished in architecture as well as in paint-
ing and sculpture. Two of these—namely,
Michael Angelo and Giulio Romano—were,
no doubt, mainly instrumental in setting
established rules at defiance, which, under
the hands of inferior men, led subsequently
to the decline and degradation of Italian
architecture in Europe. It is not our inten-
tion to follow up and point out the steps by
which this decline came about; it is the
history of individual license breaking through
scientific rules, and leading to a certain
originality of treatment, whilst art itself
suffered
Two great men, however, both of Lombard
origin, appeared at this period to stem for a
time the impulse given to individual fancies,
and to bring law, order, and system more
than ever into the practice of architecture.
The first of these, Giacomo Barozzi, usually
called Vignola, from the name of his birth-
place, was of a Milanese family, and was
born in 1507, and Andrea Palladio was born
at Vicenza in 1508. Vignola commenced life
as a painter and Palladio as a sculptor; but
both at an early period forsook these arts for
the study of architecture, in which both be-
came most eminent, not only as artists, but
as lawgivers. Vignola applied himself more
particularly to the study of perspective, and
distinguished himself by an original work on
the subject, ‘‘ Le due regole della Prospettiva
pratica.” Giving himself entirely to archi-
tecture, he visited Rome, and was employed
as a draughtsman in delineating the ancient
remains for the newly-founded Academy of
Arts in that city, which led to his employ-
ment subsequently as a designer of architec-
ture, and he was soon engaged on various
works at Bologna, Piacenza, and Perugia.
On his return to Rome, Pope Julius II. ap-
pointed him his architect, and he executed
some well-known works there, and on
Michael Angelo’s death was made architect
to S. Peter’s, the two lateral domes of which
are of his design. He died at Rome in 1573,
where he had long lived in the highest
esteem. But the work with which his name
is most intimately connected is to be found
not in Rome, but in the Palace or Castle of
Caprarola, and his influence in Europe is
mainly due to his published work on archi-
tecture. To the French, indeed, in whose
country Vignola passed two years in the ser-
vice of Francis [., he has ever been more
specially the law-giver in architecture, and
his ‘‘orders” have been most generally
adopted.
As regards Caprarola, situated about
twenty-five miles out of Rome on the Viterbo
road, it is a pentagon on plan, and as Vasari
well describes it, ‘‘holds the position and
has the form of a fortress. It is surrounded
by a ditch and drawbridges of original inven-
tion and new form ; these lead into gardens
enriched with many beautiful fountains,
mingled with shrubberies and parterres of
most pleasing effect, and adorned, at a word,
with all that could be demanded of a truly
royal palace.” This great work was due to
the munificence of Cardinal Farnese, and still
remains one of the architectural ‘‘ sights” of
Italy; not only is it remarkable from an
architectural point of view, and as exhibiting
Vignola’s powers in their best manner, but
also for the numerous and splendid series of
paintings which decorate its walls, prin-
cipally the work of Taddeo Zucchero, and
which illustrate the ‘‘ acta Deorum,” as well
as the ‘ gesta Farnesiorum,” the last being
incomparably the most interesting. As regards
the illustrations of heathenmythology and the
allegories, we may note that the most minute
written instructions were given by the erudite
