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Model of the The Nola Tomb, attributed to Domenico Padiglione
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Cork model SM M1078. ©Sir John Soane's Museum. Photo: Hugh Kelly.
Model of the The Nola Tomb, attributed to Domenico Padiglione
Cork and stucco
Height: 25cm
Width: 38cm
Depth: 73cm
Width: 38cm
Depth: 73cm
Museum number: M1078
Not on display
Curatorial note
The three models of tombs in the collection have traditionally been described as replicating Etruscan sepulchres. In reality, they are loosely based on tombs of the pre-Roman Italic peoples that inhabited parts of Italy who came under the strong cultural influence of Greek colonies in southern Italy. This particular example is based on the frontispiece to J H W Tischbein’s 1791 publication of Sir William Hamilton’s (1730-1803) vase collection. Miniature vases within the tomb replicate those from this collection.
Provenance
Soane recorded in his 1830 Description that a model on display in his Basement Ante Room at that time had previously belonged to Lord Berwick; His description enables us to identify it as M1078 (it is described as in the Basement Ante Room and clearly shown in the accompanying plate – it is very distinctive). It was Lot 70 at the sale of the effects of Lord Berwick at Attingham Park, Shropshire (by the auctioneer Mr. Robins) in 1827: A cork Model of an ancient Etruscan Tomb, exhibiting the interior with the skeleton, and vases round it, 3 feet long. In the annotated copy of the sale catalogue in Soane's collection his agent William Watson made a marginal annotation £2 x 14 WW [e.g. paid £2.0.14 William Watson]
Literature
Valentin Kockel, 'Towns and tombs: three dimensional documentation of archaeological sites in the kingdom of Naples in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries', in Ilaria Bignamini (ed.), Archives and Excavations, London 2004, p.143-162
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