Plate XCII. Triumphal Arches and Gateways

Plate XCII. — This shows two examples in which the arch is treated in a highly decorative way. The upper one, attributed to Clerisseau, shows how a dominant archway may be connected with quadrant screens. The other example, in which the arch is subordinate, relies for its effect on the grouping of the columns on the various faces. In this design the columnar treatment is dominant.

Monumental gateways generally form central features opening into courtyards. In such cases they should be schemed to form subsidiary focal points, besides complementing the architecture of the buildings adjacent to them.

Entrances of this kind follow three main types based on the following principles: — I, Trabeation; II, Arcuation, and III, the “Palladian” motive. There are many possible variations of these: for example, the entrance to the Cortile of an Italian Palace, to the French Cour d’Honneur, and numerous English treatments such as those of the “Porta Honoris” at Caius College, Cambridge; the Water-gate of old York House, London, by Inigo Jones; the Middle Temple Gateway and old Temple Bar, by Sir Christopher Wren; the gateway at Queen’s College, Oxford, by Nicholas Hawksmoor, and the fine gateways at the extremities of the courtyard of Somerset House, by Sir William Chambers.