Editing Christopher Wren (section)

==Architectural career==
{{See also|List of works by Christopher Wren}}
Wren was a prominent man of science at the height of the Scientific Revolution. The Scientific Revolution seemed to promise a merger of the science of [[mechanics]] and the art of building. In [[Galileo Galilei]]'s ''[[Two New Sciences]]'' the first science is not [[Dynamics (mechanics)|dynamics]], for which the book is now better known, but rather the strength of materials, which Galileo had recognized 30 years earlier as a "science that is very necessary in making machines and buildings of all kinds." In 1624 [[Henry Wotton]], the British [[ambassador]] to [[Republic of Venice|Venice]], published a book on architecture in which he analyzed in a rudimentary way the structure of a stone [[arch]]. Moreover, in the 17th century, it was people who would now be called scientists who were awarded the commissions to design and build monumental structures. In [[Turin]], [[Guarino Guarini]], a mathematician, devised the plans for such celebrated buildings as the [[San Lorenzo, Turin|Royal Church of Saint Lawrence]], the [[Chapel of the Holy Shroud]] and the [[Palazzo Carignano]]. In [[Paris]], [[Claude Perrault]], a [[physician]] and an [[Anatomy|anatomist]], designed the [[façade]] of the [[Louvre]] and the observatory of the [[Académie Française]]. In London, it was Wren and Hooke who collaborated as chief architect and city surveyor after the city was devastated by the Great Fire of 1666.

In 1661, just months after taking his post at Oxford, Wren was invited by Charles II to oversee the construction of new harbour defences at Tangier—then-newly [[English Tangier|under British control]]. Wren ultimately excused himself from the King's offer. Letters dated to the end of 1661 note that in addition to the Tangier project, Charles II had also sought Wren for consultation regarding repairs to [[Old St Paul's Cathedral]], the reconstruction of which would ultimately be the architect's magnum opus. Speaking of Wren's vocational transition from academic to architect-engineer, biographer [[Adrian Tinniswood]] writes "the use of mathematicians in military fortification was not unusual... Perhaps Wren also had experience of the business of fortification, more than we know."<ref name=":0" />

=== Early architectural work ===
{{Multiple image
| image1 = Later Renaissance Pembroke College Library Cambridge Plate 135 0166 (cropped).jpg
| image2 = Sheldonian Theatre, 2011.jpg
| image3 = Emmanuel College Front Court, Cambridge, UK - Diliff.jpg
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| caption2 = Sheldonian Theatre
| caption1 = Pembroke Chapel
| caption3 = Emmanuel College Chapel
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}}Wren's first known foray into architecture came after his uncle, [[Matthew Wren]], [[Bishop of Ely]], offered to finance a new chapel for [[Pembroke College, Cambridge]]. Matthew commissioned his nephew for the design, finding the architecturally inexperienced Christopher to be both ideologically sympathetic and stylistically deferential. Wren produced his design in the Winter of 1662 or 1663 and the chapel was completed in 1665.

Wren's second, similarly collegiate work followed soon after, when he was commissioned to design Oxford's "[[Sheldonian Theatre|New Theatre]]", financed by [[Gilbert Sheldon]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Geraghty|first=Anthony|date=2002|title=Wren's Preliminary Design for the Sheldonian Theatre|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1568785|journal=Architectural History|volume=45|pages=275–288|doi=10.2307/1568785|jstor=1568785|issn=0066-622X}}</ref> His design for the structure was met with lukewarm to negative reception, with even Wren's defenders admitting the young architect to have not yet been "capable of handling a large architectural composition with assurance".<ref name=":0" /> Adrian Tinniswood credits the building's flaws to "Sheldon's refusal to pay for an elaborate exterior, Wren's inability to find an adequate external expression for a building which was wholly conditioned by the functionality of its interior space and, ...his refusal to bend the knee to classical authority in the way that our experience of eighteenth-century architecture has conditioned us to believe is right."<ref name=":0" /> Prior to the theatre's 1669 completion, Wren had received further commissions for the Garden Quadrangle at [[Trinity College, Oxford]], and the chapel of [[Emmanuel College, Cambridge]].<ref name=":0" />

Wren left for Paris in July 1665 on his first and only trip abroad. In France, the architect encountered an architectural milieu more closely linked to the ideals of the [[Italian Renaissance]]. Wren also met  Gian Lorenzo Bernini, who was "widely acknowledged by contemporaries as the greatest artist of the century". Though Bernini's concrete influence on Wren's designs was transmitted via published plans and engravings, the encounter surely impacted the budding architect and his vocational trajectory.<ref name=":0" />

===St Paul's Cathedral===
[[St Paul's Cathedral]] in London has always been the highlight of Wren's reputation. His association with it spans his whole architectural career, including the 36 years between the start of the new building and the declaration by parliament of its completion in 1711.{{Citation needed|date=June 2021}}Letters document Wren's involvement in St Paul as early as 1661, when he was consulted by Charles II regarding repairs to the medieval structure.<ref name=":0" /> In the spring of 1666, he made his first design for a dome for St Paul's. It was accepted in principle on 27 August 1666. One week later, however, the Great Fire of London reduced two-thirds of the City to a smoking desert and old St Paul's to ruin. Wren was most likely at Oxford at the time, but the news, so fantastically relevant to his future, drew him at once to London. Between 5 and 11 September, he ascertained the precise area of devastation, worked out a plan for rebuilding the City and submitted it to Charles II. Others also submitted plans. However, no new plan proceeded any further than the paper on which it was drawn. A [[Rebuilding of London Act 1666|Rebuilding of London Act]] which provided rebuilding of some essential buildings was passed in 1666. In 1669, the King's Surveyor of Works died and Wren was promptly installed.

{{Multiple image
| image1 = St Paul's Cathedral, London, South elevation of the Great Model – Royal Academy Collection.jpg
| image2 = 74 - AS II.13. S elevation.jpg
| image3 = The South Prospect of St. Paul's Church London.jpg
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| caption2 = The Warrant Design (1674)
| caption1 = Greek Cross Design (1673)
| caption3 = The cathedral as built
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| header = '''The development of Wren's design for St Paul's Cathedral'''
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It was not until 1670 that the pace of rebuilding started accelerating. A [[Rebuilding of London Act 1670|second rebuilding act]] was passed that year, raising the tax on coal and thus providing a source of funds for rebuilding of churches destroyed within the [[City of London]]. Wren presented his initial "First Model" for St Paul's. This plan was accepted, and demolition of the old cathedral began. By 1672, however, this design seemed too modest, and Wren met his critics by producing a design of spectacular grandeur. This modified design, called "Great Model", was accepted by the King and the construction started in November 1673. However, this design failed to satisfy the [[Cathedral chapter|chapter]] and clerical opinion generally; moreover, it had an economic drawback. Wren was confined to a "cathedral form" desired by the clergy. In 1674 he produced the rather meagre Classical-Gothic compromise known as the Warrant Design. However, this design, called so from the royal warrant of 14 May 1675 attached to the drawings, is not the design upon which work had begun a few weeks before.

{{Multiple image
| image1 = Cathedral of Saint-Paul - 2014-08-04.jpg
| image2 = St Paul's Cathedral Dome from One New Change - Square Crop.jpg
| image3 = St Paul's Cathedral Nave, London, UK - Diliff.jpg
| caption1 = West front
| caption2 = Dome
| caption3 = Nave
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| header = St Paul's Cathedral
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The cathedral that Wren started to build bears only a slight resemblance to the Warrant Design. In 1697, the first service was held in the cathedral when Wren was 65. There was still, however, no dome. Finally, in 1711 the cathedral was declared complete, and Wren was paid the half of his salary that, in the hope of accelerating progress, [[Parliament of England|Parliament]] had withheld for 14 years since 1697. The cathedral had been built for 36 years under his direction, and the only disappointment he had about his masterpiece was the dome: against his wishes, the commission engaged Thornhill to paint the inner dome in false perspective and finally authorised a [[balustrade]] around the roof line. This diluted the hard edge Wren had intended for his cathedral, and elicited the apt [[Parthian shot|parthian comment]] that "ladies think nothing well without an edging".<ref>Bolton and Hendry, eds., ''The Wren Society'', 20 vols.</ref>

===Later career===

[[File:St_Bride's_Church,_London_-_Diliff.jpg|thumb|[[St Bride's Church]] (1670–84)]]
During the 1670s, Christopher Wren received significant secular commissions. Among many of his notable designs at this time, the [[Monument to the Great Fire of London|monument]] (1671–76)<ref name="Downes1988p131" /> commemorating the Great Fire also involved [[Robert Hooke]], but Wren was in control of the final design, the [[Royal Observatory, Greenwich|Royal Observatory]] (1675–76),<ref name="Downes1988p131">{{harvnb|Downes|1988|p=131}}</ref> and the [[Wren Library]] at [[Trinity College, Cambridge]] (1676–84)<ref name="Downes1988p131" /> were the most important ones.{{Citation needed|date=July 2021}}

In 1682, Wren advised that the original statues of the King's Beasts on [[St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle|St George's Chapel, Windsor]] be removed. The pinnacles were left bare until 1925, when replica statues were installed.<ref>{{cite book|last=London|first=H. Stanford|title=The Queen's Beasts|publisher=Newman Neame|date=1953|page=15}}</ref>

By historical accident, all Wren's large-scale secular commissions dated from after the 1680s. At the age of 50 his personal development, as was that of English architecture, was ready for monumental but humane architecture, in which the scales of individual parts relate both to the whole and to the people who used them. The first large project Wren designed, the [[Chelsea Hospital]] (1682–92),<ref name="Downes1988p131" /> does not entirely satisfy the eye in this respect, but met its brief with distinction and such success that even in the 21st century it fulfils its original function. The reconstruction of the stateroom at [[Windsor Castle]] was notable for the integration of architecture, sculpture and painting. This commission was in the hand of [[Hugh May]], who died in February 1684, before the construction finished; Wren assumed his post and finalised the works.
[[File:Chelsea_Royal_Hospital_from_the_north_west.jpg|thumb|[[Royal Hospital Chelsea]] (1682–92)]]
Between 1683 and 1685 he was much occupied in designing the [[King's House, Winchester]], where Charles II had hoped to spend his declining years, but which was never completed. When Wren promised that it would be complete within a year the King, who was conscious of his mortality, replied that " a year is a great time in my life".[[File:Hampton_Court_-_36957889221.jpg|thumb|[[Hampton Court]] (1689–1702)]]After the death of Charles II in 1685, Wren's attention was directed mainly to [[Whitehall]] (1685–87).<ref name="Downes1988p131"/> The new king, [[James II of England|James II]], required a new chapel and also ordered a new gallery, council chamber and a riverside apartment for the [[Mary of Modena|Queen]]. Later, when James II was removed from the throne, Wren took on architectural projects such as [[Kensington Palace]] (1689–96)<ref name="Downes1988p131"/> and [[Hampton Court]] (1689–1700).<ref name="Downes1988p131"/>

The erection of the present [[Windsor Guildhall]] was begun in 1687, under the direction of Sir [[Thomas Fitz]] (or Fiddes) but there is a story that on his death in 1689, the task was taken over by Wren. It was completed at a cost of £2687 – 1s – 6d. The new building was supported around its perimeter by stone columns, providing a covered area beneath as a venue for [[Corn exchange|corn markets]].

The story is widely told that the borough Council demanded that Wren should insert additional columns within the covered area, in order to support the weight of the heavy building above; Wren, however, was adamant that these were not necessary. Eventually, the council insisted and, in due course, the extra supporting columns were built, but Wren made them slightly short, so that they do not quite touch the ceiling, hence proving his claim that they were not necessary. However, there is little evidence that Wren was ever involved in the design or construction of the Guildhall. It is now believed that the story grew out of Wren's connections with Windsor and that his son, also called Christopher Wren, who served as a [[Member of Parliament]] for Windsor, commissioned the statue of [[Prince George of Denmark]] in 1713 on the south end of the building and his name was engraved underneath. The pillars were probably moved into the corn market from the east side of the building when an extension was added in 1829.<ref>{{cite book|first1=Pamela |last1=Marson|first2=Brigitte |last2=Mitchell|title=Windsor Guildhall: History and Tour|year=2015|publisher=Friends of the Windsor & Royal Borough Museum|isbn=9780-9010-3309-3|page=7}}</ref> The gaps at the top of the pillars are now filled with tiles smaller than the capitals.

Wren did not pursue his work on architectural design as actively as he had before the 1690s, although he still played important roles in a number of royal commissions. In 1696 he was appointed Surveyor of [[Greenwich Hospital (London)|Greenwich Naval Hospital]],<ref name="Downes1988p131"/> and in 1698 he was appointed [[Surveyor of the Fabric of Westminster Abbey|Surveyor of Westminster Abbey]].<ref>{{harvnb|Jardine|2003|p=440}}</ref> He resigned from the former role in 1716 but held the latter until his death, approving with a wavering signature<ref>Westminster Abbey Muniments</ref> [[Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington|Burlington]]'s revisions of Wren's own earlier designs for the great Archway of Westminster School.