Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-12-20
The Import of Pazzi Chapel Here
The Proposed Duplicate Of This Building for the Johnson Pictures Should
Serve rs IN Artistic Stimulus as Do Our Other "Copies' of Famous
Architectural Gems

ENOUR structures in Philadelphia which
l. especially delight the eye - the main
building of Girard College, the Custom
House, the Girard Trust C~ompany's build
ing and the former Maritime Exchange at
Third and Dock streets-derive direct in
spiration from foreign masterpieces of
architecture. A sfth will be added when
II present proposals are carried out, the
superb Johnson collection Of paintings are
housed in a reproduction of a signal es-
thetic achievement. Brunelleschis Pazzi
Chapel, of Florence.
Unlike other arts, architecture is one in
which avowed imitation 'oftener' warrants
praise than blame. It is absurd to rewrite
1.-THE Tempest" as Dryden did; stupid to
compose another LAS You Like It" which
George Sand so injudiciously made over for
unsuspecting French readers; fatuous to
initiate "A Dolls House." as did Henry
Arthur Jones in his Breaking Of a But
terfy." Books, being portable, may grace
innumerable environments. Their Intimate
appeal Is pervasive.
ART in are hitecture can only approach
Athat, universally when its highest con-
cepts are freely employed, either In detail
or replica, by designers unafraid to echo
beauty that has become standard. The
fear that originality may be shadowed by
such performances Is not JUSTIFIED IN the
! annals Of American cities. Our own dis
tinctive architecture, that or the sky
scraper, suffers, whatever its faults from
no sterility whatever. ,,. ,.%',.- .,,
The structural Americanism OF New York
IL un~mistakable Such foreign models as
exist there. however, season the scene and
unquestionably serve as esthetic stimulus
and as a safety valve on presumptuous
crudity. '~""
l. The heaven kissing Singer Building Is
undeniably picturesque in certain lights.
| Christening influences, however, are GER
tainly exerted by the aspect OF the Madi-
son Square tower, copied by Stanford White
directly from the famous Giralda by the
| Seville Cathedral and the Herald Build
ing, with its deliberate suggestions OF a
particular Italian Renaissance palace. Z
AT HOME the knowledge that Girard Col
Alege is 'aftep" the Paris Madeleine;
that the Custom House, though in. some re-
| SDeClS Tdl1tT d DOlSiB iShSStS
motives of the Parthehon; that the sim
gularly interesting structure which crowns
the Maritime Exchange stems from the
lovely choragic monument of Lysiorates
still standing below. the Acropolie in
Athens, and that. the Girard Trust Build,
ing, another White creation, consciously
and in the main reVerentIy initiates the
Roman Pantheon, cannot fall to develop
taste and quicken the imagination with
a sense Of beauty. @ /;
The Pazzl Chapel on the Parkway should
therefore, exert a wholesome influence on
the growth OF that t~horoushfare. Imita
ton in this instance typihes gratifying dis
~crstlon, since much Of the late John q.
Johnscn's pictorial treasure is composed
OF paintings by Italian masters of Brunei
Ieschi's time. Gems will appropriately re
ceive the setting of a gem. for tho Original
building is one OF the glories OF the one.
time supreme dynamo OF artistry on th'
lArno. slssrt
Elegance rather than grandetf is ~
keynote. Fnippo BruEeueschig Ind alreads