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The Use of Inscriptions in the Architecture of Owen Jones and A.W.N

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The Use of Inscriptions in the Architecture of Owen Jones and A.W.N !"#$#%"#&'()&*%"+,-&!.)/&0()&1-)&23&4"-56%7'%2"-&%"&'()&865(%')5'96)&23&:;)"&<2")-&$"+&8= >=&?=&@9#%" 89'(26A-B/&C$62D&8=&E6F2D&GD26)- H2965)/&0()&<296"$D&23&'()&H25%)'.&23&865(%')5'96$D&E%-'26%$"-I&J2D=&KLI&?2=&M&A<9"=I&MLLNBI&77= NOPQNRS @9TD%-()+&T./&H25%)'.&23&865(%')5'96$D&E%-'26%$"- H'$TD)&1UV/&http://www.jstor.org/stable/991702 855)--)+/&LKWLNWMLNL&NN/XL Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=sah. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Society of Architectural Historians is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. http://www.jstor.org Engaging the Mind's Eye The Use of Inscriptions in the Architecture of Owen Jones and A.W.N. Pugin CAROL A. HRVOL FLORES Ball State University mong its other characteristics,architecture fulfills the aesthetic impact of a building and may advocatea par- the dual role of satisfying practical requirements ticularstyle throughthe scale, spacing,and type of lettering and demonstratingthe thinkingand valuesof soci- selected, as well as through the mediaused and the location ety and the state of technology prevalent at a particular of the text. The selection and placementof text can be one period in time. Consequently, built works communicate of the most important decorative elements in a structure manymessages through their scale, orientation,and plan, as communicating style. Obvious examples are found in the well as through the choice of style, method of construction, medievallettering styles on Gothic Revivalchurches or aca- and the texture and color of the materialsselected.1 Orna- demic institutions, the Roman lettering on Beaux-Arts mentation is another powerful tool for communication, buildings, and the sans serif lettering on contemporary emphasizingthe intentions of the designer or the patron. structures.3 One type of ornamentation of particularimportance in The promotion of a particularaesthetic is also signifi- architecturaliconography, and the subjectof this article, is cant in the third type, inscriptionsproduced for emblem- the use of inscriptionsas a significantcomponent in both atic, or symbolic, ornamentation. In this final category, the visual and symbolic expression of an architectural epigraphsare displayedon architectureto stimulatepartic- scheme. ular responses or develop associationswith ideas and con- For the purposeof this discussion,three types of archi- cepts beyond the literal meaning of the text provided;for tectural inscriptions will be identified: informative, aes- example, mottoes on coats of arms and other inscriptions thetic, and emblematic.2In the first type, inscriptions are displayed on medieval, Renaissance, and later buildings used to impartbasic information about a built work,includ- evokedconceptions of ownershipand familystatus in much the ing name and purpose of the structure or the signifi- the same way that companylogos communicateownership cance of the site. Informativeinscriptions may also provide and corporate power today. Emblematic inscriptions can a dedicatorymessage or commemorateindividuals impor- also be used to instigateassociations with broaderconcepts, tant to the work, including the designer,builder, or patron. deeper meanings, or more powerful emotions. For exam- Familiar examples of commemorativeinscriptions appear ple, many contemporary architects rely on emblematic in the data etched in cornerstones marking the construc- inscriptions in designing public spaces and memorials, tion of buildings and the lists engraved on memorials replacingthe expressivefigural sculptures preferred in ear- the recording names of war casualties. lier eraswith messagescapable of eliciting responsesin the In the second type, inscriptionsare meant to enhance viewer.4 Most publicationsconcerning writing on architecture The following exploratoryessay approachesthe topic do not addressthe emotional impact or emblematicinten- of architecturalinscriptions theoretically and from a socio- tions of inscriptionsor the importantrole written messages cultural perspective, emphasizing the role of inscriptions play within our visual culture.Instead, the majorityof texts within the studyof architectureand ornamentationas a rich discuss the craft of lettering, carving, and composition, resource into the mentality of a particularperiod and as a forminga body of instructionalmaterial valuable for under- significant expression of the intentions and complex aes- standing the methods of creating writing on architecture. thetic schemes developedby individualpatrons and design- The remaining publicationson inscriptions can be classi- ers. Specifically,I investigatethe significanceof inscriptions fied as theoretical,historical, or documentary.Theoretical within the decorative schemes of the British architects texts by major scholars, including Oleg Grabarand Ernst Owen Jones (1809-1874) and AugustusWelby Northmore Gombrich,investigate the subjectof inscriptionswithin the Pugin (1812-1852) and advancethe position that although broader contexts of ornamentation and perception. The Jones and Pugin had different motives for using inscrip- respected IslamicistOleg Grabarprovides critical analysis tions, both displaya comprehensionof Islamicornamenta- and insights on ornamentationin severalbooks, including tion as understood and explained by Jones. In addition, I TheAlhambra, The Formation of IslamicArt, and TheMedia- introduce new information on the relationship between tion of Ornament,and the noted art historian Ernst Gom- Jones and Pugin and stress their mutual agreement and brich developstheories of perceptionand ornamentationin involvement in many concerns important to nineteenth- The Senseof Order.5Questions and issues raised by both century architecture and the decorative arts. Finally, the these expertsare importantto the concerns of this article. ideas and terms presented in this essay are comparedwith Other writings on architecturalinscriptions furnish the findings and theoretical concepts proposed by Oleg skilledinvestigations and interpretationsof epigraphswithin Grabarin the texts cited above. specificgeographical and theoreticalcontexts. Neil Levine's Admittedly,the ubiquitoususe of homilies and quota- "The Book and the Building:Hugo's Theory of Architec- tions on all types of domesticobjects during the last century ture and Labrouste'sBibliotheque Ste-Genevieve" remains may have led to their dismissalas examplesof the sentimen- a seminal work, combining analysis of Labrouste'suse of tal moralizing popular with Victorians rather than con- inscriptions in the decoration of the Bibliotheque Sainte- tributing to the perception that inscriptions used on Geneviievewith a broaderdiscussion of the role of architec- buildingscan be a powerfultool and an importantelement ture in society and the nature of the relationshipbetween in carefully orchestrated decorative schemes intended to architecture and text. David Van Zanten's "Architectural evoke particular associations. The publication of Owen Polychromy:Life in Architecture"provides specific exam- Jones'spioneering study of the Alhambracan be identifiedas ples of the use of inscriptionswithin the largerdiscussion of a critical source introducing the concept of profuse epi- architecturalpolychromy, and Armando Petrucci'sPublic graphic programsinto Victorian design. Jones, one of the Letteringcites numerousexamples of epigraphson the build- earliestand strongest advocatesfor a new style of architec- ings of Rome to develop his thesis that writing on architec- ture to reflect nineteenth-century values and technology, ture is one of the instrumentsof public power.6In addition, criticizedhistoricism, in general,and the Gothic Revival,in several historicalstudies focusing on a particularperiod, a particular,as anachronismsinappropriate for contemporary specific building, or the work of a single architect contain architecture.This position did not prevent him, however, explanationsof the functionand intentionof passagesexhib- from admiring, collecting, and studying works produced ited on the architecturediscussed. Models of this type of his- during the Middle Ages, particularlymedieval illuminated toricalscholarship include Meyer Shapiro'sRomanesque Art manuscripts.In 1834,Jones and the French architectJules and two monographson buildingsby FrankLloyd Wright: Goury undertook a six-month on-site investigationof the JackQuinan's Frank Lloyd Wright's Larkin Building: Myth and Alhambra, Granada, Spain. As Europe's oldest surviving Fact andJoseph
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