Hampton Court ... Illustrated with forty-three drawings by Herbert ...

SOUTH FRONT 19
particular style, Neo-classic, or what you will, to perfection.
The buildings are impressive, distinctly
decorative, and unmistakably comfortable.
On this east front the white of the windows, the
pediments, and balustrade, of the carved trophies,
flowers, fruit, pulli, and all the paraphernalia of the
craftsmen ofthe age, is in striking but never startling
contrast to the rich red of the bricks. There are here
some wonderful specimens of under-cutting in stone, —
the carved keystones of the windows of the groundfloor
looking over the gardens, with the initials of
William and Mary intwined under a crown. The
effect of this is now often lost because the birds' nests
inside them are allowed to remain. The whole front
has a brightness which the English climate indisputably
needs. One might be saddened by the solemn
court of Wolsey, but Wren's work, if it could be
monotonous, could never be depressing.
The south front, which looks upon the private
garden, is slightly varied from the design of the east.
It is, very slightly, less long; it has two projecting
wings, each of the space of four windows, and the
central compartment has not the same rich pediment
or abundant decoration. At the west end the building
joins Wolsey's work, the window of Queen Elizabeth.
And the contrastis striking if not particularly pleasing;
for Wren's work, it must be admitted, here (as in
S. Mary's Church at Warwick) does not look at its
best in conjunction with another style.
If Wren was always impressive in his exteriors, his