CHAPTER VII

LATIN DERIVATIONS IN AMERICAN

ARCHITECTURE

ARCHITECTURAL TYPES ADAPTED FROM ITALY, FRANCE AND SPAIN. THE ITALIAN VILLA IN AMERICA. THE IMPORTANT PLACE OF ITALIAN RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE. FRENCH INFLUENCES IN CHÂTEAUX, MODERN CITY HOUSES AND HOTELS. A LITTLE APPRECIATED ARCHITECTURAL LEGACY FROM SPAIN

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ATIN derivations in American architecture, meaning all that have come to us from Italy and France and Spain, are of peculiar importance in the cultivation of an appreciative familiarity with architectural forms and types. And if the thought of Italian derivations calls most vividly to mind the American adaptation of the Italian villa, it should be remembered that this derivation is of comparatively less importance than Italian influences in other types of building.

That so little has come to us from Spain is remarkable, and should be taken rather as a lack of appreciation on the part of the architect than as an evidence of meagre or unavailable material in Spain.

In an earlier chapter it was shown how the architecture of the Italian Renaissance, based on a revival of Classic forms, emerged from the involved maze of Mediæval Gothic architecture, and some analysis of the nature of Renaissance architecture, in Italy and in other European countries, was also presented.

The architectural style of the Renaissance is a flexible style-a style which lends itself to fluent architectural expression in many types of building. It is a style characterised by nicety of proportion in its larger

members, and by nicety of scale in its detail. Renaissance mouldings, especially the Italian, are refined and delicate. Severe compositions of arch and column or arch and pilaster may be relieved and humanised by conventional ornament, or by decorations in fresco or sgraffito. The architecture evolved by the Renaissance Italian masters is so well studied, as architecture, that it is suitable in many adaptations, ranging through churches, theatres, libraries, museums, clubs and important city buildings, besides offering an inexhaustible mine of inspiration for country villas and for garden architecture. Of the Italian villa and its garden, as well as the American adaptation thereof, more will be said later.

No study of the influence of the architecture of the Italian Renaissance in America could be either complete or intelligent without familiarity with the works of the great architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White. These architects believed in Italian architecture as sincerely as H. H. Richardson believed in 'Byzantine and Romanesque architecture. The work of McKim, Mead & White, indeed, and of the many younger architects who were trained in that draughting room, placed an ineradicable stamp on American architecture, from 1894 onward, and effected, as well, a revival of the Italian style which has dictated the design of many of the country's most notable buildings.

One member of the firm, Stanford White, was a master of detail, a connoisseur of the finest points of architectural ornament and decoration. The small marble library in New York, housing the private collection of the late J. P. Morgan, is unanimously accorded a place among the best ten, if not the best five, American achievements in architecture.

McKim, Mead & White, Architects

Photograph by Julian Buckly A PURE RENDERING OF THE STYLE OF THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE This building is generally regarded by architects and critics alike as one of the finest of American renderings of a European style (Private library of the late J. P. Morgan)

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A DETAIL OF PURE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE DERIVATION This Palladian entrance loggia is peculiarly illustrative of the graceful architectural adaptability of the style of the Italian Renaissance

(Private library of the late J. P. Morgan)

To say that this building, or the great Public Library in Boston, is a masterpiece of American architecture is, in the matter of style, a little misleading. They are Italian, rendered by American architects, as are most of the works of McKim, Mead & White. Few modern architects have approached in attainment the genius of this firm in interpreting to-day, with real finesse and understanding, the spirit of Italian Renaissance architecture. Little, if any, of the influence of the French École des Beaux Arts was apparent in the works of McKim, Mead & White, even in the early days of the firm. Their mission was, rather, to carry on the torch from the hands of Bramante, Peruzzi, Brunelleschi, and the other old Italian masters.

The Morgan library affords a unique example for a study of an historic style in a pure adaptation. The entrance, formed by an open loggia, is characteristically Italian. The composition of central arch and tall sidespaces, called a "Palladian" composition (whether of window, door or opening) is faultlessly proportioned. The name is derived from Palladio, the great Italian Renaissance architect who made this his favourite motif. The niches, both on the façade and within the loggia, are no less characteristic of the style, and the balusters are of a perfect Italian form. Few buildings in this country combine such harmonious general proportions with such exquisite detail in ornament and mouldings. To study the Morgan library thoroughly, and to come to intelligently appreciate its infinite architectural niceties, is to discover the real essence of Italian architecture at its best, and as directly as it is possible to do without visiting Italy. The two illustrations, showing the street elevation of the building and a detail of the loggia, will repay a careful study, and serve to impress