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Article Excerpt
Rosemary Hill, God's Architect: Pugin and the Building of Romantic Britain Toronto: Allen Lane, 2007, 624 pages, ISBN 9780713994995, $40.00 (hardback)
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Some seventy years ago, M. S. Osborne, writing on the architectural heritage of Manitoba, noted its eclectic and derivative qualities. For the period 1880 to 1914 in particular, the main influences were mainly modified English and French styles in domestic and sacred structures but somewhat broader in range for commercial buildings. (1) Since the "Great War", a richer set of influences have subsequently been added, reflecting the diversity of Manitoba's settlement history. One of the derivative styles mentioned by Osborne was that of the Gothic tradition. Its influence was, he noted, present in many of the province's commercial buildings but it was "our traditional association of Gothic with religious buildings" which was responsible "for the number of churches in the Gothic style erected during the past few years in this locality." (2) These observations were sound and Manitobans in just about all communities will find there examples of the style in domestic, sacred or commercial contexts. Just what was behind the development and spread of this style? This is the subject Rosemary Hill has chosen to tell.
The early Victorian architect and designer, Augustus Welby Pugin (1812-1852), was what in our day we would call an obsessive and a workaholic.
In this comprehensive and well illustrated biography, Rosemary Hill has made the case that her subject should be much better known for his role in furthering the nineteenth century Gothic Revival in architecture. If Pugin was not the originator of a revived Gothic style in Europe and England, he certainly became its main and busy propagandist after 1832....
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