SMIRKE, Robert the Younger

The greatest effect of the Greek Revival movement was felt in the new public buildings of the fast-growing cities. In this case, monumental temple forms were intended to express dignity and authority in governmental buildings, or learning and intellectual grandeur in cultural institutions.

The Greek Revival proved particularly suitable for museum structures. In England, the most prominent representative of these new temples of the arts is the British Museum in London. It was constructed to house the collections of Greek sculptures acquired by the state from 1805. In addition, it acquired the royal library, which George IV made over to the nation in 1823, establishing the basis for what has now become the British Library. Robert Smirke began the now greatly extended complex in the same year.

The massive central fa�ade features a colonnade of fluted Ionic columns topped by a carved triangular pediment. The wings, which continue the Ionic colonnade, just outward, creating a U-shaped fa�ade with a small courtyard entrance into the museum.

The British Museum was established in 1753 with the vast art and curiosity collection of Sir Hans Sloane, and the museum went on to become a public museum with a comprehensive collection that served to catapult London to international stature in the art world. Smirke’s building was a grand statement of British nationalism and historical interest.

The photo shows the entrance fa�ade of the British Museum designed in 1823.

The greatest effect of the Greek Revival movement was felt in the new public buildings of the fast-growing cities. In this case, monumental temple forms were intended to express dignity and authority in governmental buildings, or learning and intellectual grandeur in cultural institutions.

The Greek Revival proved particularly suitable for museum structures. In England, the most prominent representative of these new temples of the arts is the British Museum in London. It was constructed to house the collections of Greek sculptures acquired by the state from 1805. In addition, it acquired the royal library, which George IV made over to the nation in 1823, establishing the basis for what has now become the British Library. Robert Smirke began the now greatly extended complex in the same year.

The massive central fa�ade features a colonnade of fluted Ionic columns topped by a carved triangular pediment. The wings, which continue the Ionic colonnade, just outward, creating a U-shaped fa�ade with a small courtyard entrance into the museum.

The British Museum was established in 1753 with the vast art and curiosity collection of Sir Hans Sloane, and the museum went on to become a public museum with a comprehensive collection that served to catapult London to international stature in the art world. Smirke’s building was a grand statement of British nationalism and historical interest.

The photo shows the entrance fa�ade of the British Museum designed in 1823.

The greatest effect of the Greek Revival movement was felt in the new public buildings of the fast-growing cities. In this case, monumental temple forms were intended to express dignity and authority in governmental buildings, or learning and intellectual grandeur in cultural institutions.

The Greek Revival proved particularly suitable for museum structures. In England, the most prominent representative of these new temples of the arts is the British Museum in London. It was constructed to house the collections of Greek sculptures acquired by the state from 1805. In addition, it acquired the royal library, which George IV made over to the nation in 1823, establishing the basis for what has now become the British Library. Robert Smirke began the now greatly extended complex in the same year.

The massive central fa�ade features a colonnade of fluted Ionic columns topped by a carved triangular pediment. The wings, which continue the Ionic colonnade, just outward, creating a U-shaped fa�ade with a small courtyard entrance into the museum.

The British Museum was established in 1753 with the vast art and curiosity collection of Sir Hans Sloane, and the museum went on to become a public museum with a comprehensive collection that served to catapult London to international stature in the art world. Smirke’s building was a grand statement of British nationalism and historical interest.

The photo shows the entrance fa�ade of the British Museum designed in 1823.

Smirke’s largest and in many ways finest public building is the British Museum (1823-52). Here a massive Ionic peristyle is combined with a central portico to produce an effect of great gravity and power. The building was planned round a quadrangle, with projecting wings at the front (the quadrangle was filled in when the domed Reading Room was built to the designs of Sydney Smirke (1798-1877) in 1854-57). There are several impressive interiors, notably the main staircase, flanked by massive Doric columns, and the King’s Library (1824), in which Greek squareness was tempered with rich decoration, especially in the ceiling, to produce one of the most satisfying public rooms in Britain of the 19th century.