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Drawing of the bas relief by John Flaxman on the front of Covent Garden Theatre representing the Modern Drama
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Unframed drawing of Flaxman's Covent Garden Theatre bas relief representing Modern Drama, by Maria Denman. SM P214.
Miss Maria Denman ( - 1861, fl. 1808 - 61)
Drawing of the bas relief by John Flaxman on the front of Covent Garden Theatre representing the Modern Drama
Museum number: P214
Not on display
Curatorial note
This drawing was made by the sister of the sculptor and is an exquisite rendering of the relief.
Soane described the scene as 'Shakespeare seated, attended by the Tragic and Comic masks, and by the Lyre, with his right hand summons before him Caliban laden with wood, Ferdinand sheathing his sword, and Miranda entreating Prospero on behalf of her lover: these are conducted by Ariel playing on a lyre and followed by Hecate (the three formed goddess) in her car drawn by oxen: Lady Macbeth with the daggers in her hands, accompanied by her husband, who turns with horror from the body of the murdered Duncan, completes the group'.
Flaxman's bas relief was salvaged from the ruins of Smirke's theatre and is incorporated into the current Drury Lane facade of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
Soane described the scene as 'Shakespeare seated, attended by the Tragic and Comic masks, and by the Lyre, with his right hand summons before him Caliban laden with wood, Ferdinand sheathing his sword, and Miranda entreating Prospero on behalf of her lover: these are conducted by Ariel playing on a lyre and followed by Hecate (the three formed goddess) in her car drawn by oxen: Lady Macbeth with the daggers in her hands, accompanied by her husband, who turns with horror from the body of the murdered Duncan, completes the group'.
Flaxman's bas relief was salvaged from the ruins of Smirke's theatre and is incorporated into the current Drury Lane facade of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
Literature
Sir John Soane, Description..., 1835, p.57
Alison Shell 'John Soane, Bardolater' in 'The Cloud-Capped Towers': Shakespeare in Soane's Architectural Imagination, exhibition catalogue, Sir John Soane's Museum, 2016, p.23 and fig.6 (p.25)
Alison Shell 'John Soane, Bardolater' in 'The Cloud-Capped Towers': Shakespeare in Soane's Architectural Imagination, exhibition catalogue, Sir John Soane's Museum, 2016, p.23 and fig.6 (p.25)
Exhibition history
'The Cloud-Capped Towers': Shakespeare in Soane's Architectural Imagination, Sir John Soane's Museum, London, 21 April - 8 October 2016
Associated items
P402, related material
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