Sacred Spaces

The Temple of Solomon as imagined by Fischer von Erlach

Book One of Fischer von Erlach's Historic Architecture seeks to illustrate buildings of the Biblical and ancient world.  This view of the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem is entirely imaginery, although the author has included depictions of an ancient coin that inspired him. 

Front elevation Cologne Cathedral, Germany, displaying all the elements of the High Gothic style

This front elevation of the cathedral at Cologne, Germany depicts all the elements of the High Gothic style -- overwhelming verticality achieved with pointed arches, windows, and doors, and twin pointed towers.  This landmark structure was begun in the year 1248, but was not completed until 1880.  The 19th century contruction followed surviving plans and drawings.

This image appears in an eight-volume set on German architecture by Ernst Förster published in the 1860s.

Ground plan of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome

The Steedman collection continues to acquire important newly published books when appropriate. This image is from The Basilica of St. Peter in the Vatican, a four-volume set published in Italy in 2000. It is an exhaustive and beautiful photographic and textual documentation of the basilica.

Ground plan of present-day St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, with various colors to differentiate sections of the building.

Karlskirche in Vienna, designed by Fischer von Erlach in 1713

This Viennese landmark church was commissioned by Emperor Charles VI in thanksgiving for deliverance from the plague in 1713.  Although the official name of the church is St. Charles Borromeo, the name Charles also is understood to honor Charlemagne and refer to the Emperor himself.  Fischer von Erlach used many design elements he had studied and pictured in this book.  The columns flanking the entrance are modeled on the Column of Trajan in Rome.

This image appears in Fischer von Erlach's Historic Architecture of 1721.

Palladio's San Giorgio church in Venice, depicted in Kent's Designs of Inigo Jones

The front elevation of Andrea Palladio's San Giorgio church in Venice from William Kent's The Designs of Inigo Jones of 1727. 

This folio set included designs by others besides Jones, such as Andrea Palladio and Kent's patron Lord Burlington.  This image is a frank acknowledgment of Kent's admiration of Palladio's work. 

Pugin's ideal Gothic Revival chapel uses pointed arches and stained glass windows

View of the Parthenon from Stuart & Revett's important work

This view of the Parthenon has become famous as the symbol of Stuart and Revett's The Antiquities of Athens of 1762.  It is a beautiful delineation of the remains of the temple, and also shows that contemporary buildings had been built within the ruins of the classical temple.

Section of 'Old St. Peter's', the basilica built by the emperor Constantine

Section of 'Old St. Peter's', the basilica built by the first Christian emperor of Rome, Constantine, beginning around 320 A.D. This was the building that was demolished in the 15th century to make way for the church and square that we know today. From Carlo Fontana's Templum Vaticanum of 1694.

Pugin's drawings of church coffers

Pugin's designs for two coffers and two keys, both in full Gothic Revival elaboration. In this case, the word 'coffer' is used for a chest to store valuables.

Drawing from the Steedman sketchbook entitled Designs for Iron & Brass work in the Style of the XV and XVI Centuries of 1836.

Viollet-le-Duc's design for the restoration of the Chapel of Saint Louis, Notre Dame de Paris

Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc's designs for the wall painting and decor of the chapels of the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris were documented in 1870, in a folio volume illustrated by beautiful color lithographs entitled Peintures murales des chapelles de Notre-Dame de Paris. 

The design for the restoration of the Chapel of Saint Louis features the French royal symbols of crowns and fleurs-de-lys.

Detail and sections of the clock tower of St. Paul's Cathedral, London

Detail and sections of the clock tower of St. Paul's Cathedral in London, Sir Christopher Wren's masterpiece.

Lithograph in Arthur F. E. Poley's St. Paul's Cathedral London Measured, Drawn Described, a handsome folio published in 1927.

The Temple of Solomon as imagined by Fischer von Erlach

Book One of Fischer von Erlach's Historic Architecture seeks to illustrate buildings of the Biblical and ancient world.  This view of the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem is entirely imaginery, although the author has included depictions of an ancient coin that inspired him.