Inscribed
Inscribed in ink in Robert Adam's hand Sketch taken from an Ancient/ Pavement in France
Signed and dated
- Undated, possibly a copy of drawing made in 1754.
Medium and dimensions
Pencil 199 x 175
Hand
Robert Adam
Notes
In the opinion of A. A. Tait, this drawing relates in time and place or subject to those contained in Adam volume 57.This unfinished pencil sketch by Robert Adam may have been copied from a drawing he made while in France in 1754. The style of drawing is similar to that of his other drawings of ceilings in volume 8; it may have been done and included as a record, which may also be the case for the drawing in Adam vol.8/37.Adam was in Nímes in December 1754 where he drew the Tour Magne in Adam vol.55/60, a drawing inscribed with the words 'taken on the/ Spot', on the verso of which is a pencil sketch of the Pont du Gard. Adam had a high opinion of such antiquities, describing them as having '... merit exceeding all description...' (see J. Fleming, Robert Adam and His Circle in Edinburgh & Rome, London, 1962, p.116). Earlier, when he was in Paris, he had made plans 'to stay sometime in Aix in the South of France will Consume much time as the Antiquitys of Nimes & adjacent places, Marsails and Aix must be consider'd by one' (National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh, Clerk of Penicuik Collection, GD18/4749). On 18 December 1754 he wrote 'that we returned to Nimes where I now write you this Epistle. To Morrow is dedicated to Antiquitys, or as much of it as is necessary after which we proceed by cross road to Beaucaire, Orangon & Pt. Royal to Aix' (National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh, Clerk of Penicuik Collection, GD18/47529). The bold sophistication of this sketch shows it to be later in date than the style of the Tour Magne drawing.
Level
Drawing
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