Explore Collections
You are here:
CollectionsOnline
/
Unfinished capriccio showing two small plans and an elevation for what is probably a mausoleum, arranged as a two-storey basement of a rectangular tower supporting an obelisk. This is composed of aedicular windows on a basement with columns in pairs above, supporting sculptural figures and the fluted base of thr obelisk column.
Browse
Reference number
Adam vol.55/150
Purpose
Unfinished capriccio showing two small plans and an elevation for what is probably a mausoleum, arranged as a two-storey basement of a rectangular tower supporting an obelisk. This is composed of aedicular windows on a basement with columns in pairs above, supporting sculptural figures and the fluted base of thr obelisk column.
Aspect
Plans, elevation
verso sketch elevation
Inscribed
Inscribed in ink on drawing 150
verso inscribed in pen in a contemporary hand To sett down my Sallad & / Lent Mr Hope 6 pauls
Signed and dated
- Undated, probably 1755
Medium and dimensions
Pen
192 x 185
Hand
Robert Adam
Verso
Outline of a wall of three bays.
Watermark
[remains]
Notes
This drawing can presumably be dated to 1755. Charles Hope was with Robert Adam when he arrived in Rome in February 1755, but did not return from Naples with Adam in May. According to Adam '... but as I found he wanted to gull me out of a little more of my money by taking me to see palaces with him in order to pay half of his expense, I avoided him as I would Hell Fire ...' (see J. Fleming, Robert Adam and His Circle in Edinburgh & Rome, London, 1962, p.179). There is also a strong Hope connection in Adam vol.55/40.
There is a larger unfinished chalk drawing for this scheme in Adam vol.55/26, but with a plain attic roof rather than an obelisk. The broken column or obelisk reappears in the pavilion in Adam vol.55/152. This composition may be contrasted with its Gothic counterpart in Adam vol.55/24.
There is a larger unfinished chalk drawing for this scheme in Adam vol.55/26, but with a plain attic roof rather than an obelisk. The broken column or obelisk reappears in the pavilion in Adam vol.55/152. This composition may be contrasted with its Gothic counterpart in Adam vol.55/24.
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