“In bright tints . . . nature’s own formation”: The uses and meaning of marble in Victorian building culture

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

Abstract / Description of output

The use of colored stone, including locally sourced and imported marbles, has long been an important if not peculiar aspect of architectural tradition in Britain. Its symbolism, too, has been a recurring theme, with its color, texture, and composition often assuming allegorical and associational significance. As early as the twelfth century in England, polychromatic effect through the use of colored stone was still in vogue in the construction of Christ Church Cathedral, Canterbury, when it had all but disappeared from modern French practice. 1 The Trinity Chapel and Corona at Canterbury, including St. Thomas Becket’s shrine, is paved with rose and cream colored marble, signifying, among other things, the blood and brains of the murdered Becket. This, it has been suggested, points to an “aesthetics of martyrdom.” 2 Moreover, such richness of design, particularly in the sanctuary spaces of churches and cathedrals, consciously echoed St. John’s account of the Heavenly Jerusalem in Revelation, evident in Gervase’s description of the building of Lincoln Cathedral in the Metrical Life of St. Hugh (ca. 1220). It is therefore neither surprising nor unfitting that when we reach the middle of the nineteenth century in Britain, with the more mature phase of the Gothic Revival movement in full swing, we see the return of an appeal to color that was familiar to the English, including the use of decorative stonework. The heritage was long and the connotations rich.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationRadical Marble
Subtitle of host publicationArchitectural Innovation from Antiquity to the Present
EditorsJ. Nicholas Napoli, William Tronzo
PublisherRoutledge
Pages72-91
Edition1
ISBN (Electronic)9781351174152
ISBN (Print)9781472465979
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2018

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

  • marble
  • Victorian architecture
  • Britain
  • colour
  • industry
  • Ruskin
  • nature
  • religion
  • Street

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