National Gallery.—The alteration of the present National Gallery has formed a part of most schemes of metropolitan improvements. It was constantly in Sir C. Barry’s thoughts from the very time of its erection. He shared the universal opinion that its elevation was far too low and uninteresting, and this impression he embodied in a little sketch, made at the desire of Sir E. Cust, who was at that time a member of a Parliamentary Committee on the subject, and intended for his private information only. Unfortunately the fact of its existence oozed out, as such facts always do; and, what was worse, imperfect copies of it were made, and circulated without the author’s knowledge. He thought himself compelled to allow a correct representation of it to go abroad, and from this arose inevitably a serious difference between him and Mr. Wilkins, the architect of the National Gallery. Mr. Wilkins not unnaturally conceived its publication to be a breach of professional etiquette, and denounced it as such in no measured terms, especially when the success of Mr. Barry in the competition for the New Palace at Westminster still further embittered his feelings. But to this, as to the other attacks of the period, Mr. Barry made no reply, perhaps feeling himself in the wrong, certainly regretting the anomalous position into which he had been drawn, in his anxiety to rescue from comparative insignificance the building which occupies “the finest site in Europe.”
For some time the matter slept, till he was again consulted on the subject of enlargement of the Gallery, and made in 1848 a design for improving and extending the present building. He proposed to build over the vacant space in front, and advance the building to the line of the street. Several designs were made by him for the elevation, all having some great central mass, to overcome, as much as possible, the fatal effect of the Nelson Column upon the façade. He returned to the work again in 1852, in connection with larger schemes, and with designs upon a larger scale, for a building almost entirely new.
But nothing was done. The work, like all those which touch various interests, and which have to be debated upon in a popular assembly, presented difficulties, opened the door to various opinions, and ended for a time in mere discussion. Now again, as in the former case, it seems that substantial results may be hoped for. Another competition on a grand scale, though not attaining to the magnificence of the Law Courts, has been entered upon, and can hardly be allowed to be undertaken in vain.
These two great plans are now shortly to be carried out. There remain others, the execution of which must surely be a question only of time. For the work, which has been commenced, of remodelling our public offices, can hardly stop short. The Board of Trade, the Foreign Office, and the India Board cannot be allowed to exist as isolated specimens of a better style, contrasting with the meagre ineffectiveness of our older buildings.
Horse Guards.—In 1846 Sir Charles received instructions to prepare plans for the enlargement of the Horse Guards. To confine himself to the limits of instructions was hardly possible for him. He had long sighed over the insignificance of the building, and the want of all effect about the Parade. Insignificant in itself, it seemed still more unworthy of its position, as forming a part of the “Via Regia,” the Sovereign’s approach to Parliament. Ideas floated before his mind of a second “Place du Carrousel.” The opportunity was too tempting to be resisted. Accordingly he provided indeed for additional accommodation by an additional story; but, having done this, he made a further ideal design, raising the centre into a tower-like mass, introducing other alterations on all sides, and transforming the building into a grand composition. The Parade by ornamental enclosures was brought into architectural connection with the design; the road from the Mall led by a gentle sweep to a grand entrance opposite the building, and at this entrance the “Marble Arch,” then just removed from its position at Buckingham Palace, and cast upon the world for a habitation, was to be placed. The Wellington Statue, then also in search of a resting-place, was to form a central feature of the Parade, over which its illustrious original still presided. The other buildings near, the Admiralty, Treasury, &c., were to be brought into connection with its design; and a grand Place d’Armes was to be formed, second to none in Europe.
The idea was long a favourite one; he returned to it again in his “Metropolitan Improvements,” and his work at the Board of Trade shows what might have been effected by his talent for conversion. Nothing indeed was done; there was some doubt whether the foundation of the old building would bear the additions contemplated. The design itself, intrusted to the Government, was lost, and no trace of it can now be found. But, sooner or later, the work must be carried out, and, when it is carried out, it will in all probability follow the main lines of the arrangement which has thus been indicated.
British Museum.—Another design of his on a still larger scale had relation to an institution, in which he always felt the most lively interest.
The problem of securing sufficient accommodation for the collections at the British Museum—a problem which constantly recurs, as the collections increase, and the requirements of scientific men expand—at one time occupied Sir C. Barry’s most anxious thoughts. The simplest method of enlargement, by advancing the building towards Great Russell Street, was rendered impossible by the existence of the grand portico. Little could be done except to raise the building, unless additional space were occupied. This could only be done at considerable cost, larger in fact than would have been at that time contemplated, though not larger than will probably at some time or other be found necessary.
Accordingly a plan was prepared, confining the building to its actual site. It was Sir Charles’s opinion, an opinion which he strongly maintained in public before a Parliamentary Commission, that the collections of Natural History were out of place in the Museum. It appeared to him, that they should be associated with “Zoological Gardens;” so that the dead and living specimens of the animal creation might be seen in connection, and the relations of the present to the past, in contrast or similarity, be distinctly traced. On the present site of the Museum this would be impossible; but, were the collections removed, as for instance to South Kensington, room could be found for any number of live animals, and for museums large enough to content Professor Owen himself.
This being done, he would have devoted the whole building in Great Russell Street to literature and art. He proposed to meet the requirements of the former by surrendering the Natural History Rooms to the Library, and providing for readers, not in one great hall, as at present, but in a series of rooms of moderate size. The claims of art and antiquities were to be satisfied by forming a magnificent hall, which was to be nothing less than the whole central area of the building, roofed with glass, capable of containing even the Egyptian colossi, and unsurpassed in any building in Europe. There were some objections to it in detail, which he thought might be easily overcome. The idea was a grand one, and would have been carried out without serious difficulty. But M. Panizzi proposed a different scheme; the Government yielded to his authority, and the great Reading Room was formed.