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Temple of Vesta (or Temple of the Sibyl), Tivoli, near Rome, 1761-3 and 1794-5
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Reference number
SM D3/1/12
Purpose
Temple of Vesta (or Temple of the Sibyl), Tivoli, near Rome, 1761-3 and 1794-5
Aspect
[21] Quarter-plan of abacus copied from D3/2/2
Scale
full size
Inscribed
Temple of Tivoli, labelled Neck of Column, Fillet and Collarino, and (faint pencil) GD and 1794
Signed and dated
- 1794
(Meyer) Novr 11th 1794 - 1761-3 1794-5
(Meyer) Novr 11th 1794
Medium and dimensions
Black and red pen, pencil, pricked for transfer on thin laid paper, two sheets joined (650 x 570)
Hand
Dance, Soane office (Meyer)
Notes
This is a copy of [SM D3/2/2] made by Frederick Meyer, a pupil in Soane's office from 1791-1796; he subsequently gave up architecture (A.T. Bolton, The Works of John Soane, [1923], p.xxxix).
The entry in Soane's Office Day Book for 11 November 1794 includes Meyer left at Mr Dance's / No.3 large Sketches of Tivoli Capital and Copying large Sketches / of Tivoli Capital Meyer. The Day Book entry for the day before, 10 November, includes The Bank / Drawing Capital of Tivoli / at large for modelling / ... Meyer. It seems that Meyer borrowed drawings made by Dance and copied them. That Dance re-drew the Tivoli capital more than 30 years after he had first measured and drawn it on site is puzzling. However, if it is assumed that the drawings catalogue here [D3/1/1(b)], [D3/1/1(a)], [D3/1/1(c)], [D3/2/5(a)], [D3/2/5(b)], [D3/2/5(c)], [D3,2/5(d)], [D3/2/5(e)], [D3/2/4], [D3/2/6], [D3/1/9], [D3/2/7], [D3/1/2], [D3/1/3], [D3/1/5], [D3/1/4], [D3/1/6] are all that he brought back from Italy, or at any rate, all that Dance had by 1794, there is a surprising lack of fully drawn-out details. While [SM D3/1/1(c)], [SM D3/2/5(a)], [SM D3/2/5(b)], [SM D3/2/5(c)], [SM D3,2/5(d)], [SM D3/2/5(e)] are initial studies only and [SM D3/2/6], [SM D3/1/9], [SM D3/2/7] are full-size details of the capital and are incomplete as a set. Perhaps Dance was embarrassed into reconstructing from his rough but dimensional sketches the necessary full-size details. The following January, when more details were required, he allowed Meyer to copy from his original drawings, Dance's soft smudgy pencil being translated into pen and ink.
Other copies like [SM D3/1/12] seem not to be part of Soane's collection though these are five drawings, in Soane's hand, after measured drawings by Dance of details from the Temple of Vesta including the capital, catalogued as made c.1780, presumably soon after his return from Italy in June of that year [SM 45/5/1-5].
The reference by Meyer to drawing the capital full size 'for modelling' suggests that a prototype capital was made for Soane's approval before use on the northwest corner of the Bank of England. There are, in fact, two Tivoli capitals at the Soane Museum, one on the south side of the Monk's Yard, and another that was part of the 'pasticcio' a composite pylon of ancient and modern fragments. Both correspond to the executed capital that was carried out to the same size as the original and both are 'perfect' and could either be prototypes or leftover 'spares'.
[SM D3/1/11], [SM D3/1/13], [SM D3/1/10], [SM D3/1/8] Copy drawings by Meyer, three dated 1795, of the capital for use by Soane for the Bank of England's Tivoli Corner.
The entry in Soane's Office Day Book for 11 November 1794 includes Meyer left at Mr Dance's / No.3 large Sketches of Tivoli Capital and Copying large Sketches / of Tivoli Capital Meyer. The Day Book entry for the day before, 10 November, includes The Bank / Drawing Capital of Tivoli / at large for modelling / ... Meyer. It seems that Meyer borrowed drawings made by Dance and copied them. That Dance re-drew the Tivoli capital more than 30 years after he had first measured and drawn it on site is puzzling. However, if it is assumed that the drawings catalogue here [D3/1/1(b)], [D3/1/1(a)], [D3/1/1(c)], [D3/2/5(a)], [D3/2/5(b)], [D3/2/5(c)], [D3,2/5(d)], [D3/2/5(e)], [D3/2/4], [D3/2/6], [D3/1/9], [D3/2/7], [D3/1/2], [D3/1/3], [D3/1/5], [D3/1/4], [D3/1/6] are all that he brought back from Italy, or at any rate, all that Dance had by 1794, there is a surprising lack of fully drawn-out details. While [SM D3/1/1(c)], [SM D3/2/5(a)], [SM D3/2/5(b)], [SM D3/2/5(c)], [SM D3,2/5(d)], [SM D3/2/5(e)] are initial studies only and [SM D3/2/6], [SM D3/1/9], [SM D3/2/7] are full-size details of the capital and are incomplete as a set. Perhaps Dance was embarrassed into reconstructing from his rough but dimensional sketches the necessary full-size details. The following January, when more details were required, he allowed Meyer to copy from his original drawings, Dance's soft smudgy pencil being translated into pen and ink.
Other copies like [SM D3/1/12] seem not to be part of Soane's collection though these are five drawings, in Soane's hand, after measured drawings by Dance of details from the Temple of Vesta including the capital, catalogued as made c.1780, presumably soon after his return from Italy in June of that year [SM 45/5/1-5].
The reference by Meyer to drawing the capital full size 'for modelling' suggests that a prototype capital was made for Soane's approval before use on the northwest corner of the Bank of England. There are, in fact, two Tivoli capitals at the Soane Museum, one on the south side of the Monk's Yard, and another that was part of the 'pasticcio' a composite pylon of ancient and modern fragments. Both correspond to the executed capital that was carried out to the same size as the original and both are 'perfect' and could either be prototypes or leftover 'spares'.
[SM D3/1/11], [SM D3/1/13], [SM D3/1/10], [SM D3/1/8] Copy drawings by Meyer, three dated 1795, of the capital for use by Soane for the Bank of England's Tivoli Corner.
Level
Drawing
Digitisation of the Drawings Collection has been made possible through the generosity of the Leon Levy Foundation
If you have any further information about this object, please contact us: drawings@soane.org.uk