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Capriccio showing a bird's-eye view of a circular vaulted hall with a central round pier and two tiers of colonnade. This is possibly surrounded by water crossed by bridges to a tiered platform with niches and screens behind.
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Reference number
Adam vol.55/86
Purpose
Capriccio showing a bird's-eye view of a circular vaulted hall with a central round pier and two tiers of colonnade. This is possibly surrounded by water crossed by bridges to a tiered platform with niches and screens behind.
Aspect
Perspective
Inscribed
Inscribed in ink on drawing 86
Signed and dated
- Undated, probably 1755 - 56
Medium and dimensions
Pen142 x 258
Hand
Robert Adam
Watermark
star in circle
Notes
The two related drawings in Adam vol.55/79 and 80 may show details of the curved exterior walls of this composition. The use of the bird's-eye technique, relatively rare in Robert Adam's work, is also found in Adam vol.55/43 and 47. The composition of the round central pier and radiating vaulting is also in Robert Adam's picturesque inventions of the late 1770s. The building here may have been inspired by the circular underground hall of the Palazzo Farnese at Caprarola, which Adam visited in September 1755 (see J. Fleming, Robert Adam and His Circle in Edinburgh & Rome, London, 1962, p.180).
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