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  • image Adam vol.55/12

Reference number

Adam vol.55/12

Purpose

Capriccio showing part of the elevation of a building with circular arcaded tower and spire above a three-bay recessed centre court, between pedimented wings with shallow domes and obelisks. To the right is a wing of six-bays with a plain attic. Above this is drawn a three-storied domed pavilion with a curved three-bay centre.

Aspect

Elevation

Inscribed

Inscribed in ink on drawing 12

Signed and dated

  • Undated, probably 1755 - 56

Medium and dimensions

Pencil, pen, brown wash308 x 202, trimmed along right hand side

Hand

Robert Adam

Watermark

crown with grapes

Notes

There is a similar tower in the composition in Adam vol.55/22; see also the study for a tower in Gothic style in Adam vol.55/24. The apparent asymmetry of the elevation is probably not intended, but rather the result of the trimming of this sheet when it was mounted in the album. The pencil overdrawing suggests a large composition, with possibly three stories and curving centre, recalling the style of the drawing in Adam vol.55/49, which itself looks towards the vast palace scheme shown in Adam vol.28/1.

Level

Drawing

Digitisation of the Drawings Collection has been made possible through the generosity of the Leon Levy Foundation

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