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[22] Finished drawing for the auditorium, with a view towards the boxes, c1789, unexecuted
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Reference number
SM Adam volume 47/5
Purpose
[22] Finished drawing for the auditorium, with a view towards the boxes, c1789, unexecuted
Aspect
Axial section of the opera house, from west to east. The west wing has a pitched roof, and at the ground-storey level there is a central corridor, flanked by rooms containing fireplaces. At the first-storey level there is a room with a central entrance, set behind a Tuscan screen with a frieze of fluting, and this is flanked by further entrances. At the second-storey level there is a central room, with a balustraded apse, and a domed ceiling ornamented with swags, and the flanking rooms contain figurative panels set within niches. The auditorium is as SM Adam volume 28/22, but one tier of boxes is omitted, and the ceiling coving is ornamented with flora set within semi-circular compartments. The east wing contains rooms at the ground, first and second storeys, and this is surmounted by a drum ornamented with rosettes and festoons, and supporting a stepped, ribbed dome with a spire. The east front has a rusticated arcade at the ground-storey level, and this supports a balustraded Corinthian portico, surmounted by statuary
Scale
bar scale of 1 inch to 5 feet
Inscribed
Section across the Opera House shewing the pit the front boxes & galleries over[_ _] (in pencil) / No 5 (in pencil)
Signed and dated
- c1789
c1789
Medium and dimensions
Pen, pencil, wash and coloured washes including pink, verdigris, Naples yellow and Indian yellow within a single ruled border on laid paper (935 x 596)
Hand
Possibly
Office hand, possibly Robert Morison or Daniel Robertson
Office hand, possibly Robert Morison or Daniel Robertson
Watermark
PVL
Literature
Bolton, 1922, Volume II, Index p. 40
Sheppard, 1960, Volume XXIX, (i), p. 249
For a full list of literature references see scheme notes.
Sheppard, 1960, Volume XXIX, (i), p. 249
For a full list of literature references see scheme notes.
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