Why did Christopher Wren’s Great Model for St. Paul’s Cathedral fail to win approval?

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Christopher Wren Sir Christopher Wren, detail of an oil painting by Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1711; in the National Portrait Gallery, London.

Christopher Wren’s Great Model for St. Paul’s Cathedral failed to win approval because it did not satisfy the canons of the cathedral or the broader clerical opinion of the time.1

While the design was celebrated for its spectacular grandeur, the clergy found it unsuitable, forcing Wren to abandon his ideal vision in favor of a more traditional compromise. Consequently, he was compelled to propose the Classical-Gothic Warrant Design, which was accepted by the king in 1675.1