Center: Hubert Von Herkomer (German British, 1849–1914), H. H. Richardson, 1886, oil on canvas, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, R&R CC0.

An outsized influence

Architect Henry Hobson Richardson (1838–1886) was a larger-than-life character, not only in terms of his physical appearance, but also his influence on architectural design in the United States in late 1800s. Richardson attended Tulane University and Harvard College, eventually studying architecture at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. He made a name for himself with the design of Boston's Trinity Church (1877) where he began to explore his trademark Romanesque Revival style, today known as "Richardsonian Romanesque."

Images courtesy Wikipedia Commons (1) and (2)

What is Romanesque?

The term Romanesque ("in the manner of the Romans") took hold among historians in the 1800s and describes the art and architecture of the early Middle Ages before Gothic dominated architectural expression across Europe. The church of San Martin in Segovia, Spain—with its heavy masonry, rounded arches, squat columns, and minimal ornamentation—provides a good example of the type of medieval architecture Henry Hobson Richardson emulated in his own designs.

Robert S. Duncanson (American, 1821–1872), Sunset on the New England Coast,1871, oil on canvas, Gift of Mrs. Gilbert Bettman, Sr., 1943.1331
On view in Gallery 108 at the Cincinnati Art Museum

Why Romanesque?

Many American artists and architects in the 1800s looked to the American landscape for inspiration. Richardson's contemporary interpretation of Romanesque—particularly his use of rusticated stone and elemental forms—suggests the ruggedness of the continent's natural wonders.

“Richardson was fascinated by massive geological specimens like the smooth glacial boulders he encountered in New England and incorporated into his mature designs when he had a large enough budget," writes Martin Filler in an essay for The New York Review. "He used rough quarried stone to much the same effect elsewhere and made buildings in rural locales look like organic outgrowths of the landscape."

Thomas Crane Public Library in Quincy, Massachusetts (1882) by Henry Hobson Richardson

Flexible architectural language

Borrowing elements from Romanesque architecture, Richardson developed a flexible architectural language to design a range of building types, including churches, residences, courthouses, libraries, and office buildings. His Crane Public Library (1882, pictured) provides a good example of Richardson's mature style, featuring Romanesque design elements: rusticated masonry (rough-cut stone), rounded arches, squat columns, and minimal ornamentation.

Art Academy of Cincinnati (1887) photo courtesy The Mary R. Schiff Library & Archives, Cincinnati Art Museum

Influence on Cincinnati architects

Architect James W. McLaughlin designed the original Cincinnati Art Museum building (1886) and adjacent Art Academy of Cincinnati (pictured, 1887), today known as the museum's Longworth Wing and housing staff offices. The design reflects some of the hallmarks of "Richardsonian Romanesque" — including rusticated stone, rounded arches, and minimal ornamentation — popular in the States during the late 1800s.

Postcard image of the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce (1888)

Richardson's Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce

As crews completed McLaughlin's Art Academy building in 1887, construction had begun on Richardson's only Cincinnati commission: the monumental Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce building (1888) once located on the southwest corner of 4th and Vine Streets in downtown Cincinnati. Richardson was not able to see the building completed. He died two years earlier in 1886 at age 47 of kidney disease, and his partners at the firm finished the project.

The massive pink granite structure—hailed as "fireproof" when it opened to fanfare in January 1889—succumbed to a devastating fire 30 years later in 1911. Although the masonry walls (constructed of mammoth stone blocks) largely survived the blaze, the furnace-like heat melted the iron structural system supporting the upper floors and sent them crashing down through the building’s three-story-tall trading floor.

After hauling away the building's massive stone blocks, the Fourth & Vine Tower (better known today as the PNC tower) was constructed on the site and completed in 1913.

Richardson Memorial and Chamber of Commerce Monument in Burnet Woods Park

Remnants and Memorial

Soon after the fire, the Cincinnati Astronomical Society salvaged many of the stone blocks from Richardson's Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce building, hauling them first to Oakley and then to Cleves, Ohio, with the intention of reusing the stone to build an observatory. The plan was later dropped, but some of the stones were rediscovered in 1967 by UC architecture student Ted Hammer in Cleves along Buffalo Ridge Road. A fellow student, Stephen Carter, won a design competition in 1972 to create a memorial to Richardson in Burnet Woods Park using the stones. You can still see the assemblage in Burnet Woods today, overlooking Martin Luther King Drive and UC's College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning.

Stone eagle sculpture from the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce building in Eden Park.

Also salvaged from Richardson's Chamber of Commerce are four stone eagle sculptures that once perched on the building's dormers. Today, the eagles grace the entryway to Eden Park along Eden Park Drive in East Walnut Hills near the Krohn Conservatory.