Inscribed
Inscribed in ink on drawing 120; in chalk ten times on the recto R and A
Signed and dated
- Undated, probably 1755 - 56
Medium and dimensions
Black chalk and pencil
226 x 343
Hand
Robert Adam
Verso
Academic study in black chalk showing plan, elevation and section of part of a building with a shallow dome supported by pilasters with aedicular windows; beside this is an apsidal plan showing a double arcade flanked by two oval staircases. The building here is a version of the plan in pencil on the recto. The perspective in Adam vol.55/165 may be considered the source for these schemes.
Watermark
coat of arms
Notes
The building on the verso is a version of the plan in pencil here. There are other smaller versions of the plan in the chalk drawing on the recto at Adam vol.55/130 recto and verso, 55/142 recto and verso, and 55/121. There are similar academic exercises on this composition in volumes 7, 9 and 12. This and the other schemes referred to are variations on a plan for a type of courtyarded villa. They are possibly architectural exercises undertaken by both Robert Adam and Laurent-Benoít Dewez (1731-1812), whose corrections may be the chalk overdrawing. This formula also appears in Adam vol.55/121 and 124. A similar plan form is used for Adam's London Opera House pavilion after the 1789 fire, which is found in Adam vol.10/166.
Level
Drawing
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