Sketch of St Paul’s
St. Paul’s Layout
One the first things I noticed when I walked into St. Paul’s Cathedral was how my eyes were subconsciously drawn upwards to the dome. It seemed the whole design of the building was working in unison to draw visitors’ attention to Christopher Wren’s crowning achievement of the dome. I set out to sketch a section of the cathedral below the dome to explore how this affect was achieved. Each feature draws attention to the feature above it, causing the eye to be drawn up to the dome. At first, I was a bit overwhelmed by how much detail there was just in this small section. However, I soon realized that there many patterns repeating themselves over and over in different features. For example, the two smaller arches on each side are flanked by two columns, with a band of repeating squares, or coffers, inside the arch. This same pattern is repeated in the large half dome that frames the mosaic depicting what I presumed to be the figures of Jesus and angels. Even though St. Paul’s is a Christian church, ancient Roman influences are evident in the use of columns, coffers, and even mosaics. I included my interpretation of the layout of St. Paul’s with an * marking my vantage point to give context to my sketch.