Architect of St Paul's Cathedral, rebuilder of London
England's greatest architect, who was in fact an outstanding astronomer and mathematician. When the Great Fire of 1666 burned most of London, including the old St Paul's, Wren took on the rebuilding, single-handedly designing the new St Paul's Cathedral — whose great dome (an ingenious three-shell structure he worked out by scientific calculation) is still a symbol of London. He also rebuilt dozens of city churches. His scientific background let him fuse structural mechanics, geometry, and classical aesthetics. Inside St Paul's is carved a famous epitaph to him: 'If you seek his monument, look around you.'
Wren is buried in the St Paul's Cathedral he designed, his tomb carved with a Latin epitaph that has echoed through the ages: 'Reader, if you seek his monument, look around you.' It means: the whole magnificent cathedral is his monument. For an architect there is no epitaph more fitting, or more proud — his work is the best proof that he lived.
Below are how modern works borrow or reinterpret this name or story — not the original material. The two differ, so keep them apart.