Introduction

THE functional value of the screen determines its design: it is either a link between two masses, with or without a strong central feature; or it can be treated as a skeleton façade of dominant interest with a central motive based upon the triumphal arch, or with dual entrances near the extremities. Screens are introduced into the composition of buildings for completing circulation in plans and for providing covered thoroughfares without interfering with axial lines or means of approach. They are capable of being treated in one or more storeys, and they are used either to complete the fourth side of a quadrangle or Court of Honour, thus enabling architectural lines to be continued and the extent of a whole scheme to be comprehended: or, in special cases, to mask central façades which retreat between wings, as at the Admiralty, Whitehall (Plate XCVI, No. III), where Robert Adam designed the screen to reduce the apparent height of Ripley’s ungainly portico. Another general use for a single storey screen is to ensure additional privacy to a courtyard, as in the other examples on the same Plate from the Palace of Compiegne and from Carlton House, W.

In the eighteenth century, no building of importance or entrance to a nobleman’s park was considered to be complete without some form of architectural screen with which lodges and gates were combined. Such screens generally consist of a single row of columns strengthened either at the centre or at the extremities by projecting masses: the screen at Syon House, Isleworth (Plate XCVII), is an outstanding example of the matured development of this application. Further, screens may be open below with a closed storey above, as at the old School of Medicine, Paris (Plate XCVIII).

During the Renaissance period in Italy the recognised practice of architects was to provide arcaded or colonnaded screens sympathetic with the façades of the buildings of which they form part, and examples of façades incorporating such features are given on Plate LXXVIII.

Although, broadly speaking, the composition of the screen in its general massing is limited to certain definite arrangements, considerable variety is available to the designer, as will be seen from reference to the Plates in this series and to some of the minor examples extant in London and other cities.

Internal screens were effectively introduced in halls and rooms of large size throughout the Renaissance period in all countries. Their functions are varied and their scenic value undisputed. In England, during the eighteenth century especially, many fine designs for internal screens were evolved, and an interesting modification is seen in the columns carrying arches or entablatures to screen the ends of large rooms in public buildings, or the curved ends of reception rooms in dwelling-houses. Reference to the example from the Bank of England on Plate XXXII, and from town houses designed by the Brothers Adam and others on Plate XXXIII, will show this application of the screen motive. Many designs by French architects may also be referred to, while the pictorial compositions drawn by such Italian masters as Bibiena, Pannini and Piranesi (Plate LIV), show how the use of screens for interior effect was generally accepted: a good example by an unknown artist is reproduced on Plate XCV.