Examining the Neoclassical and Sublime Nature of Joseph Gandy’s “A Bird’s-eye view of

the Bank of England”

Sharon Kim

Arch 354

Professor

November 28, 2018

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Little is known about Joseph Michael Gandy, whom Sir John Soane entrusted with in

rendering his life’s work, the rebuilding of the Bank of England. John Soane, who lived from

1753 to 1837, was a British architect notable for his celebrated works such as the Dulwich

Picture Gallery and an eponymous museum in Lincoln’s Inn Fields that exhibit his original,

highly personal interpretations of the Neoclassical style.1 In 1788, however, Soane received

the major commission of being architect and surveyor to the Bank of England, which

established his prestigious reputation.2 Joseph Gandy, on the other hand, who lived from

1771 to 1843, was known for his exceptional ability to conjure romantic, and often imaginary

architectural landscapes. He is most well-known for, however, the drawings he rendered as

the perspectivist for John Soane.3 Gandy’s “A Bird’s-eye view of the Bank of England” is the

watercolour painting that Soane exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1830 to illustrate the

results of his work on the Bank of England, that lasted nearly half a century.4 The painting

shows the Bank in apparent ruins, inspiring awe. It resonates with the revival of Classicism,

and the sublime movement that spanned Europe, and shaped the visions of John Soane and

Joseph Gandy. This essay analyzes Joseph Gandy’s successful representation of the

Neoclassical and sublime nature of John Soane’s design of the Bank of England in “A

Bird’s-eye view of the Bank of England”.

1
​Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Sir John Soane." Encyclopædia Britannica.
http://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Soane​ (accessed November 24, 2018).
2
​Parry, C. Malcolm, “Lighting in the architecture of Sir John Soane.” ​International Journal of Lighting
Research and Technology,​ vol. 29 (1997), 95.
3
​Salmon, F, "Review: Soanes Magician: The Tragic Genius of Joseph Michael Gandy; Joseph Gandy:
Visionary Architect."​ ​Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 6​ 6, no. 1, (2007), 127.
4
​CollectionsOnline. “​Bank of England, City of London for the Governor and Company of the Bank of England,
1788-1834 (1352).” ​Sir John Soane's Museum Collection Online.
http://collections.soane.org/drawings?ci_search_type=ARCI&mi_search_type=adv&sort=7&tn=Drawings&t=S
CHEME633​ (accessed November 24, 2018).
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Figure 1: “A Bird’s-eye view of the Bank of England”

There was a revival of Classical architecture that began in the eighteenth century, of

which John Soane was a leading pioneer. The architectural elements present in Gandy’s

bird’s-eye view of Soane’s Bank of England demonstrate Soane’s grasp of this Neoclassical

style of architecture. Mainly, Gandy’s cutaway axonometric of the entire building enables

viewers to identify its structure, consisting of columns, many of which turn into vaults,

followed by arches. These remain in their basic geometries without any additional detail,

such as entablatures. This structural essence and lack of ornamentation is characteristic of

Neoclassical architecture.5 Symmetry is another Classical element that is present in the

architecture; however, it also coexists with an asymmetrical planning innovatively designed

by Soane. For instance, Gandy’s decomposition of the building shows several suggestions of

rotundas and colonnaded façades or walkways, but their overall layout in axonometric makes

for an interesting asymmetrical composition in plan. In fact, “[this] kind of architectural

5
​Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Sir John Soane." Encyclopædia Britannica.
http://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Soane​ (accessed November 24, 2018).
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planning was a novelty”, according to Daniel M. Abramson, professor of architectural history

and director of architectural studies at Boston University.6 Asymmetrical planning enables

spaces to have variously different arrangements and potentially new and varied functions.

This innovation was crucial for Soane’s work, because it needed to accommodate the

demands of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars; more space was required as the

staff doubled during this time, and the bank note printing process was carried out on site. In

addition, new offices were requires as the Bank’s responsibilities and roles changed.7

Therefore, Soane’s architecture in planning is remarkable when considering he undertook the

challenge of progressively extending the building to reflect the economic development of the

bank.8 During his tenure as surveyor to the Bank of England for forty-five years, he added

two extensions and replaced nearly every room, more than doubling the building’s area to

spread across 3 ¼ acres.9 The building grew in a gradual process determined by its growing

and changing business. In Gandy’s aerial view of the Bank, the surface covered by the

institution is evidently wide, and although many structural elements, such as columns and

arches, are repeated, the spatial arrangements within are all seemingly different. The roof

cutaway discloses its maze-like complexity.10 Also, the number of stairs and walls at varying

levels of height to suggest multi-storeys are yet another way Gandy shows how Soane played

with scale. In addition to a simplicity of forms, Neoclassicism is characterized by a grandeur

of scale. Gandy reinforces the large scale of Soane’s Neoclassical architecture by seemingly

resting the institution on top of a hill, like an acropolis. The allusion to an acropolis is made

6
​Abramson, Daniel Michael, ​Building the Bank of England: Money, Architecture, Society, 1694-1942,​ (New
Haven, CT: London, 2005), 28.
7
​CollectionsOnline. “​Bank of England, City of London for the Governor and Company of the Bank of England,
1788-1834 (1352).”
8
Abramson, ​Building the Bank of England: Money, Architecture, Society, 1694-1942,​ 28.
9
​CollectionsOnline. “​Bank of England, City of London for the Governor and Company of the Bank of England,
1788-1834 (1352).”
10
​Lukacher, Brian, ​Joseph Gandy an Architectural Visionary in Georgian England​, (Farnborough: Thames
Hudson, 2006), 161.
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even greater through the cutaway bird’s-eye view of the bank, because the viewer then

observes a fortified city rather than a typically closed building. It is unclear whether Gandy’s

drawing is an aerial section or a floor plan in perspective. Nonetheless, Gandy ingeniously

represents the older architect’s “ever-present visions of nineteenth-century London as a new

Rome” by alluding to an architecture of the past, Classical architecture.11

The isolatedness of the Bank of England in its ruined state in Gandy’s representation

may be exaggerated, but it remains a fact that the institution newly designed by Soane was

intended to be on its own. In actuality, the building expanded to occupy an entire block with

no adjoining houses, shops, or pubs to ensure the institute’s safety.12 Gandy hints at other

measures taken by Soane in his design to ensure greater safety for the bank that has borne

greater responsibility: “All of Soane’s work at the Bank was built of incombustible materials,

using hollow cones and paving bricks for the vaulted ceilings, and metal windows”.13 While

the hollow cones are not evident in Gandy’s rendering, the bricks, on the other hand, are

commonly found, and so are the metal windows, as opposed to glass windows, that are

displayed along the main entrance façade of the building. Through his bird’s-eye view of the

Bank, Gandy faithfully portrays John Soane’s revolutionary design of the Bank of England,

with more offices, and more work space, a secure and fireproof structure, and all the while

retaining the qualities of Neoclassical architecture that appealed so much to both him and

John Soane.

Furthermore, Gandy succeeds in visualizing the sublime potential of John Soane’s

lifelong work for the Bank of England. The ‘sublime’ is a term that emerged in the writings

11
​Salmon, F, "Review: Soanes Magician: The Tragic Genius of Joseph Michael Gandy; Joseph Gandy:
Visionary Architect."​ ​Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 6​ 6, no. 1, (2007), 126.
12
​CollectionsOnline. “​Bank of England, City of London for the Governor and Company of the Bank of England,
1788-1834 (1352).”
13
Ibid.
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of Edmund Burke, who established a distinction between the sublime from the beautiful. The

sublime was thereof considered a new type of aesthetic. Architecture that could be

characterized as sublime, however, most often appeared as images, as is the case of Gandy’s

bird’s-eye view painting of the Bank of England. Sublime works tended to be within the

context of nature or ruins, but could also be labyrinthine and nightmarish.14 Most importantly,

however, Edmund Burke emphasized the importance of astonishment as an effect of the

sublime.15 All things considered, Gandy’s painting falls undoubtedly under the category of

the sublime.

As previously discussed the Bank of England in Gandy’s work is visibly in ruins. Its

state of ruins is accentuated by some items that are placed in the bottom right corner of the

foreground: a fallen Romanesque statue on top of a very ornamented entablature. Their

juxtaposition with the core of the painting, the Bank of England, elicit their Classical

ornamentation in contrast to the Bank of England’s Neoclassical lack of ornament. Moreover,

the ornaments wrapped in foliage away from the light appear more in decay than the ruins of

the Bank of England that is standing upright, seemingly well-preserved under the amber light.

Gandy may therefore be suggesting Neoclassicism’s dominance over Classicism in his

envisioned apocalyptic future.

Another sublime element in Gandy’s painting is the maze-like complexity of the

interior disclosed by the roof’s cutaway.16 In fact, in the catalogue text of the picture, Soane

quoted a passage from Le Sage’s eighteenth-century novel ​Le Diable Boîteux​, in which the

14
​Houle, Edward. “Lecture 3: The Picturesque, the sublime and character theory; Architecture and sensibility.”
Lecture, Architectural History 3: Western Architecture from 1750 to 1950, Montreal, QC, September 19, 2018.
15
​Burke, Edmund, ​A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful: With an
Introductory Discourse concerning Taste, and Several Other Additions, to Which Is Added, a Vindication of
Natural Society, after the Manner of a Late Noble Writer, by the Same Author​, (Berwick: Printed for R. and J.
Taylor, 1772), 58.
16
​Lukacher, Brian, ​Joseph Gandy an Architectural Visionary in Georgian England​, (Farnborough: Thames
Hudson, 2006), 161.
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devil, while winging his way over the city, lifts the rooftops of the houses to scorn the puny

livs conducted within.17 The passage evokes horror around Gandy’s painting by suggesting

the bird’s-eye view is, in fact, the devil’s view. The passage also continues to play with the

theme of scale; while the plan of the institution seems grand and extensive, it can also appear

paradoxically small for the viewer who is able to see it in its entirety. The effect of scale

therefore creates an additional disturbance familiar to the sublime.

The title itself, “A Bird’s-eye view of the Bank of England”, implies a view that

transcends human capacity. To observe the Bank of England from such a height and not to

mention in axonometric is unfathomable. The axonometric composition of the drawing is

clever in terms of suggesting a labyrinthine interior that continues throughout the entire

institution. The sense of a maze-like interior spatial arrangement is greater, arguably infinite,

and causes the viewer to suspend their belief, and thrill in the sublime nature of the

watercolour painting.

Gandy’s painting techniques are reminiscent of those used by William Turner, who is

among the most influential artists of Romanticism.18 The notable similarity is the blurry, hazy

brushstrokes that contribute to creating a mystical atmosphere in both their paintings. In

Gandy’s painting of the bird’s-eye view of the Bank of England, his brushstrokes of slashing

clouds that overshadow the sectioned building in combination with the amber-coloured

lighting create a striking atmosphere. The context of the building no longer feels real, but

rather mystical, and ephemeral. The ephemeral quality supports the theme of mortal

architecture introduced by the Bank of England in ruins, and the decaying Classical figures in

the foreground.

17
Ibid., 162.
18
Ibid., 8.
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The painting also denotes the presence of shallow domes within the interior structure

of the Bank of England. As can be seen in Gandy’s rendering, there is no overarching

structural element or space that dominantly casts shadows onto others. Therefore, Gandy may

also be hinting at Soane’s integration of omnipresent top-lighting in the Bank of England by

illuminating the Bank. This argument is plausible considering the Bank of England’s need for

increased security as mentioned before. The picturesque top-lighting in the Bank therefore

had a practical reason, to help with security, and became an essential part of the Neoclassical

style John Soane helped to develop.19 Soane’s preference for top-lighting must be his most

fundamental characteristic. Even though he felt it was not the correct form of lighting for

domestic interiors in Britain, he wanted to reproduce it as the Romans did: “It must be

recollected that the climate of Italy and the manners of the Romans made them prefer rooms

lighted from above, as producing that repose and, as it were half-tint, which in warm climates

is peculiarly pleasant.”20 Gandy’s representation of light in the bird’s-eye view of England,

with the institution illuminated from above, sheds light on the top-lighting that was part of

Soane’s Neoclassical design of the Bank.

The work relationship between Joseph Gandy and John Soane demonstrated by “A

Bird’s-eye view of the Bank of England” is evidently symbiotic. Gandy successfully manages

to represent in painting what Soane achieves in architecture. He demonstrates their mutual

interest in Neoclassicism, and how Soane utilized his own interpretation of this style to invent

new types and forms of building that respond to the changing social realities of the 19th

century moving forward. In addition, through the atmospheric quality he attributes to the

painting, Gandy reinforces the sublime quality of John Soane’s architecture, and taps into the

19
​Parry, C. Malcolm, “Lighting in the architecture of Sir John Soane.” ​International Journal of Lighting
Research and Technology​, vol. 29 (1997), 95.
20
​Soane’s lectures to the Royal Academy No.VIII in Watkins D ​Sir John Soane: Enlightenment thought and the
Royal Academy lectures (Cambridge University Press 1996)
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sublime as a movement that pervaded the century. Gandy’s painting of a bird’s-eye view of

the Bank of England is masterfully insightful of John Soane’s architecture, and its intent

within its context. One might say their genius complements each other’s. In essence, Joseph

Gandy’s “A Bird’s-eye view of the Bank of England” is a celebration of Neoclassicism, the

sublime, and the very building that encompasses these mutual interests shared by both Soane,

the architect, and Gandy: the Bank of England.

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References

Abramson, Daniel Michael. ​Building the Bank of England: Money, Architecture, Society,

1694-1942​. New Haven, CT: London, 2005.

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Sir John Soane." Encyclopædia Britannica.

September 06, 2018. Accessed November 24, 2018.

http://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Soane​.

Burke, Edmund. ​A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and

Beautiful: With an Introductory Discourse concerning Taste, and Several Other

Additions, to Which Is Added, a Vindication of Natural Society, after the Manner of a

Late Noble Writer, by the Same Author​. Berwick: Printed for R. and J. Taylor, 1772.

(Figure 1): CollectionsOnline. Accessed November 24, 2018.

http://collections.soane.org/drawings?ci_search_type=ARCI&mi_search_type=adv&s

ort=7&tn=Drawings&t=SCHEME633​.

Lukacher, Brian. ​Joseph Gandy an Architectural Visionary in Georgian England.​

Farnborough: Thames Hudson, 2006.

Parry, C. Malcolm. “Lighting in the architecture of Sir John Soane.” ​International Journal of

Lighting Research and Technology,​ vol. 29 (1997): 95-104.

doi:​10.1177/14771535970290030601​.

Salmon, F. "Review: S​oanes Magician: The Tragic Genius of Joseph Michael Gandy; Joseph

Gandy: Visionary Architect." ​Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 6​ 6,

no. 1 (2007): 126-28. doi:10.1525/jsah.2007.66.1.126.

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Poirier, Patrick-J. “Soane Press Release​.”​ ​Canadian Centre for Architecture,​ (2001): 1-5.

Soane’s lectures to the Royal Academy No.VIII in Watkins D ​Sir John Soane: Enlightenment

thought and the Royal Academy lectures (Cambridge University Press 1996)

Houle, Edward. “Lecture 3: The Picturesque, the sublime and character theory; Architecture

and sensibility.” Lecture, Architectural History 3: Western Architecture from 1750 to

1950, Montreal, QC, September 19, 2018.

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