George Clarke
amateur architect; b. 1660; d. 1736.
Dr. Clarke was educated at Oxford, and was, as Walpole says, "classically conversant " with architecture. He assisted Nicholas Hawksmoor in designing the towers of the quadrangle of All Souls' College, and himself designed the library of Christ Church College. He was associated with Henry Aldrich, and shared with him the honour of having designed three sides of Peckwater Square (Christ Church), and the gate of the church of All Saints, in the High Street. All these buildings are in Oxford. In the large collection of books and manuscripts which he left to Worcester College was a copy of Palladio, with Italian manuscript notes and drawings by Inigo Jones.
Nicolas Coustou
sculptor; b. January 9, 1658 (at Lyons); d. May 1, 1733.
Nicolas was the son of François Coustou, a wood carver of Lyons. At the age of eighteen he entered the atelier of his uncle Antoine Coysevox in Paris. He won the Grand Prix de Rome in 1682. In 1692 Nicolas began the groups of prophets at the church of the Invalides (Paris). Between 1701 and 1710 he assisted in the decoration of the château of Marly. Several of his works there were afterward brought to the Tuileries. The statue of Louis XV, now in the Louvre, was made in 1731.
Nicholas Hawksmoor
architect; b. 1661; d. 1736.
At the age of eighteen he became the scholar and domestic clerk of Sir Christopher Wren and was employed by him from 1682 to 1690 as deputy surveyor at Chelsea Hospital, and after 1705 as deputy surveyor at Greenwich Hospital, London. He assisted Wren in the construction of S. Paul's cathedral from June 21, 1675, until its completion. Hawksmoor was associated with Vanbrugh at Castle Howard, 1702 to 1714, and at Blenheim Palace, 1710 to 1715. At Oxford he designed the library of Queen's College, 1692, and the two towers of All Souls' College, both of which buildings have been ascribed to Wren. January 6, 1716, he was appointed surveyor to the committee in charge of the construction of churches in the city of London, and designed several churches for them, the best being those of S. Mary Woolnoth, 1716-1719, and S. George Bloomsbury, 1720-1730. He was made surveyor of Westminster Abbey at the death of Wren, and completed the towers. His excellence lay in his attention to details and thorough knowledge of construction.
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City of Philadelphia 2093
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