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[5] Measured drawing
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Reference number
SM 45/3/53
Purpose
[5] Measured drawing
Aspect
Section on east-west axis with thumbnail details of pedimented niche and window (adapted from a drawing by Thomas Hardwick)
Scale
bar scale of 1/9 in to 1 ft
Inscribed
At two different measuremtts / Greatest height from level of Pavement to extreme edge of Opening 147.5 / 146.8 5/16 / 146.8 / All the Columns & Pilasters of great niches of Gialle Briciato without exception & / the Capitols & Vases of White Marble / the Columns to the Altars of Porphyry & Giallo, materials labelled including Giallo Briciato, Porphyry, Bianco, dado all round / Pavon., Verde
Medium and dimensions
Pen, light blue, raw umber, warm sepia and pink washes, shaded within black wash border on laid paper backed with wove paper (618 x 970)
Hand
Soane
Watermark
obscured
Notes
This drawing is 'an adaptation of an earlier one drawn by Hardwick' (du Prey, 1977, op.cit. p.119). Hardwick's drawings of the Pantheon are in the RIBA Drawings Collection (SA26/7 and SA69/2(1-8). It was used for Soane's Royal Academy lectures and like others, seems to have been 'touched up' for that purpose. For instance, some fine pen lines have been crudely gone over with a denser, thicker pen, the two figures in the portico may have been added to emphasise the huge scale of the building and the strong black wash border has certainly been added.
The drawing is in the Victoria & Albert Museum (section through portico, Box A 148A, No.3436.183. See P.du Prey, Sir John Soane, 1985, in series of 'Catalogues of architectural drawings in the Victoria and Albert Museum', catalogue 4).
The Pantheon was, and is, for architects, the key building of ancient Rome. First built in 25BC by Marcus Vispanis Agrippa, it was rebuilt on a circular plan (the portico with its inscription being re-used) by Hadrian in A.D.120-5. And consecrated as a church in 608.
The drawing is in the Victoria & Albert Museum (section through portico, Box A 148A, No.3436.183. See P.du Prey, Sir John Soane, 1985, in series of 'Catalogues of architectural drawings in the Victoria and Albert Museum', catalogue 4).
The Pantheon was, and is, for architects, the key building of ancient Rome. First built in 25BC by Marcus Vispanis Agrippa, it was rebuilt on a circular plan (the portico with its inscription being re-used) by Hadrian in A.D.120-5. And consecrated as a church in 608.
Literature
P.du Prey, 'Soane and Hardwick in Rome: a Neo-Classical partnership', Architectural History, Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain, XV, 1972, pp.64-5
P.du Prey, (J.Lever editor), Catalogue of the Drawings Collection of the Royal Institute of British Architects, volume G-K, 1973, p.922
P.du Prey, John Soane's architectural education 1753-80, 1977, pp.117-9
P.du Prey, (J.Lever editor), Catalogue of the Drawings Collection of the Royal Institute of British Architects, volume G-K, 1973, p.922
P.du Prey, John Soane's architectural education 1753-80, 1977, pp.117-9
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