Sir Christopher Wren – THE PROCESS TO
SAINT PAUL’S CATHEDRAL
[footnoteRef:1]Sir Christopher Wren is an all rounded individual of the English Baroque style and also one of Britain’s most renowned architects in history. He was born in East Knoyle, Wiltshire on the 20th October 1632. Wren was the only surviving son of his father, who was a rector. Before the age of three his family moved to Windsor, as a result of the father being elected Dean of Windsor. Here, influenced by intellectuals such as Charles I the child began to show and develop his talent for mathematics and invention. [1: Wren in a portrait by Godfrey Kneller (1711)]
A decade later, in 1642 the eruption of the English Civil Wars rudely disrupted the life at Windsor. Wren’s father was forced to retire in Oxfordshire as the deanery was pillaged and his son was sent to Westminster School under Holder’s tuition. Consequently, to his affiliation with Dr William Holder, Wren expands his training and begins experimentations in astronomy by constructing various astronomical devices and translating William Oughtred’s work on sundials into Latin.
In 1647 there is a noticeable redirection of Christopher’s studies towards physiology owing to his encounter with the anatomist Charles Scarburgh.
Customarily, the young intellectual prepared experiments and made models representing the function of muscles. This element of constant alteration in his subject of studies is the demonstration of Christopher Wren’s willingness and eagerness to learn which is precisely what defines him as an all rounded individual.
Throughout his early stages, Wren uses tangible and visual means to approach scientific problems.
In 1649 Wren attends Wadham College, Oxford where he has the status of “gentleman commoner” and a couple of years later he graduates with a B.A.
INTERMIDIATE IMPORTANT EVENTS:
1661 Royal Society in London – Elected Sevillian professor in Astronomy at Oxford
During his trip to Paris, Wren studies the architecture of the city as it had touched the peak of its creativity. Here he also came in contact with some drawings of the Italian architect and sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini who was also visiting Paris at the time.
Differently to his other subjects of study, the intellectual develops an interested in architecture because of the scarcity of architectural endeavours following the death of Indigo Jones.
The concept of architect in the 17th century was somewhat generic and superficially perceived as a gentlemanly activity, not usual...
