Wren, Christopher( 1632 – 1723 )
Studies of a dome with four-lobed drum, Guildhall Library Deposit, Downes 92 ,
31.419.4cm, Pen and inkChristopher Wren’s education and influences stemmed from mathematical and scientific begin-
nings, rather than an architectural or artistic apprenticeship. He received a classical education at
Westminster School and studied at Wadham College, Oxford, where he obtained experience in
anatomy, mathematics, and astronomy. In 1665 – 1666 he traveled to France, but beyond this experi-
ence, his knowledge of the rules of classical design was gleaned from architectural treatises such as
Vitruvius, and by observing built work by architects such as Inigo Jones.
After the plague and the Great Fire, Charles II initiated a rebuilding program. Wren was able to
participate in this incredible opportunity to reshape the city of London. He accepted the position of
Surveyor General of the King’s Works in 1669 and became the Commissioner for Building Fifty
New Churches in the city, and thus built a remarkable number of buildings in his long life. His rela-
tionship to the monarchy afforded him commissions for building Whitehall Palace, Kensington Palace,
Hampton Court Palace, Middlesex, and the Royal Naval Hospital, Greenwich. He also designed nearly
every church built between 1670 and 1700 in London. Among the most notable were St. Stephen
Walbrook, Christ Church Newgate Street, St. Andrew Holborn, and, of course, St. Paul’s Cathedral.
Wren’s scientific background gave him a way to approach beauty by considering both structure and
form. His skills in constructing the representative media of models and mechanisms precipitated his
interest in architecture (Summerson, 1953 ; Downes, 1982 ). In 1666 he undertook proposals for the
renovation of St. Paul’s and completed drawings featuring a cone-shaped dome. The Great Fire in that
same year changed the assignment to a rebuilding project. The dome that Wren favored was classical
in form, towering over the crossing of the Latin cross plan. Due to Wren’s interest in mathematics and
particularly geometry, the dome was built as a set of three domes, the inner two being catenoids
(Hersey, 2000 ).
Figure 2.8, presumably an early study of St. Paul’s, features a hemispherical dome placed on a
split sketch, displaying both the interior and exterior of the cathedral. Wren was using this sketch to
think through construction, since it appears that the detail at the left received the most attention and
was also studied in plan below. He seems focused on the wall that conceals the buttresses which sup-
port the inner dome and the construction of semi-circular buttressing structures (Fürst, 1956 ). By
studying this configuration in section, Wren was able to understand the ramifications to both the
interior and exterior.
This sketch shows only one internal dome, and it has been speculated by Viktor Fürst that this
image was an early study, before the heightening of the dome was considered ( 1956 ). Although a sec-
tion through the dome, Wren employs dashed lines for the inner structure. The relationship between
inside and outside was very important to Wren. Since he needed to reconcile the interior effect with
the structure, the combination of the three domes preserved the perspective illusion of height he was
trying to achieve (Hersey, 2000 ). Wren the mathematician/geometer/astronomer was creating an
optical system, much like microscopes and telescopes of scientific discovery. If sketches can be indica-
tors of architectural intention, then this image may represent how he used media to understand design
relationships. The dome, being of an unusual shape for London at this period, required Wren to thor-
oughly investigate its form and structure in various types of drawings before construction.H5719-Ch02.qxd 7/15/05 3:22 PM Page 65