The Romantic Visions of Charles Robert Cockerell

I discovered C.R. Cockerell via bldgblog and what a wonderful lost art. The technique is the traditional wash (I have done a few of those). You take a very thick, quality paper and meticulously apply layer after layer of a much diluted ink. More layers of the wash, the darker is the spot. You then optionally can add watercolor or initially add color to the base ink. C.R. Cockerell has a profoundly romantic vision of the classical world. While a romantic vision of history is a cover-up, romantic visions in art are OK.

This wash is magnificent compilation of most known architectural monuments. Egypt at the base, moving on to the layer of classical Greek temples up to the dome of Roman Parthenon, through Gothic and Renaissance Cathedrals, Northern Italian brick towers and the full circle at the top with the mounting pyramids. Notably absent are any Asian or even Russian iconic buildings , never a part of the western classical curriculum.

The detail with Brunelleschi’s Dome in Florence right above the Rome Coliseum.

The proportions, the discipline of the Doric order:

Images license courtesy Royal Academy of Arts

Further Reading:
• Horizontal Axis in Religious Worship
• Rome and Jerusalem
• Hitchens – the Romantic Anti-Theist

Tagged as: architecture, art, design, history