Skip to content
Home
Favourites
0
Advanced search
Shopping cart
0
Register
Log in
Images of Edinburgh
Browse map
Area A - Z
Browse by date
Exhibitions
Current exhibition
All exhibitions
Collections
About the collections
Browse by theme
Subject A - Z
The image library for the collections of Edinburgh Libraries and Museums and Galleries
Images of Edinburgh
Browse map
Area A - Z
Browse by date
Exhibitions
Current exhibition
All exhibitions
Collections
About the collections
Browse by theme
Subject A - Z
Subject = "Steeples"
Back to search results
Cathedral design
Grant, James, 1846, Watercolour
Item
of 40
Cathedral design
Cathedral design
Add to favourites
Share
Item record
About this image
Related
Location
Category
Library Item
Item no
43420
Title
Cathedral design
Description
Image from James Grant's sketchbook, print numbered 381.
Artist / maker
Grant, James
Date
1846
Type
Watercolour
Location
Edinburgh and Scottish Collection
James Grant was working in architecture at a time when there was a growing demand for new churches in Scotland due to population expansion and suburban developments. Also, in the 18th and 19th century divisions in the Established Church of Scotland resulted in separate Presbyterian denominations which required their own chapels, and new churches were being constructed for the Scottish Episcopal Church and the Roman Catholic Church. The most popular style for all of them, and that favoured by Grant, was medieval gothic.
The style Grant has chosen here for his design for the west front of a cathedral is one which he would not find many examples of in his native country: late medieval Perpendicular gothic. This design, dated 1846, has highly decorative stonemasonry and carvings; at the bottom are three doorways and above the central doorway is one large five light window with spectacular tracery, while there are two smaller four light windows on either side. The design culminates in two large symmetrical towers topped by spires. The design was not actually constructed.
In the 19th century a number of European countries constructed new cathedrals in the gothic style, many of which had two symmetrical towers at their west front with four floors and topped by spires, making them very similar to Grant's design. A famous German example is Cologne Cathedral, the towers and spires of which were only constructed between 1842 and 1880. Sainte-Clotilde Basilica in Paris, Regensburg Cathedral in Germany and the Votive Church in Vienna are other examples of mid-19th century cathedrals with similar towers. It is clear that Grant wanted to bring this continental style of cathedral, originating in the late medieval period and revived in the 19th century, to Scotland, which traditionally had much more modest religious buildings.
Exhibitions with this item
James Grant: the artist's imagination
Other views of this item
Related images
Related subjects
Architecture
>
Architectural features
>
Doors and doorways
Architecture
>
Architectural features
>
Steeples
Architecture
>
Architectural features
>
Towers
Architecture
>
Architectural features
>
Tracery windows
Religion
>
Religious facilities
>
Cathedrals
More like this
Rights and purchasing
Option
Price
Digital File
Electronic file 72 dpi JPEG
£6.10
(inc. VAT 20%)
Add
Digital File
Electronic File 300 dpi TIFF
£31.00
(inc. VAT 20%)
Add
You can view and use digital images for personal and educational use. For more information, read our
policy on image use
.
If you wish to use our images for commercial use, please
contact us
.
The image library for the collections of Edinburgh Libraries and Museums and Galleries The image library for the collections of Edinburgh Libraries and Museums and Galleries