(1) bar scale in English feet of 1/8 in to 1 ft
(2-5) bar scale of 1/9 in to 1 ft (No.3 labelled PIEDI INGLESI)

(1) dimensions given
(3) as above, M AGRIPPA L F COS TERTIVM FECIT (on frieze, as well as the long Latin inscription on the entablature beginning IMP CAES L SEPTIMUS ...), some dimensions given including To top of Pedimen^t of Portico 82.8½ French / 96.3 - (presumably French feet and English feet, the French foot being the equivalent of 12¾ English inches)
(5) At two different measuremt^ts / 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

• badly-nested tags: br

(1) Pen and black wash within triple ruled and black wash border;(2) pen and sepia wash, pencil within double ruled border;(3) pen, pale blue, raw umber and warm sepia washes, watercolour technique (to indicate masonry, brick and weathering), shaded, within triple ruled and(added later)black wash border (4) pen, sepia, light raw umber and light pink washes, pencil within triple ruled and umber wash border (5) pen, light blue, raw umber, warm sepia and pink washes, shaded within black wash border (1,2,4) on laid paper (3,5) on laid paper backed with wove paper ( 991 x 631, 987 x 633, 633 x 988, 633 x 987, 618 x 970)

Soane

(1,2,4) J Honig & Zoonen and beehive within cartouche (3,5) obscured

One of this set of drawings 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). drawings 2 and 4 are copies of Thomas Hardwick's drawings while drawing 5 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).
The ground floor plan, drawn to a larger scale than the other drawings, is the result of Soane's own measuring. See in Sketchbooks catalogue: 'Italian Sketches', 1779 (SM volume 39, f.41r) for rough elevation and section, and also see in Sketchbooks catalogue: 'Miscellaneous Sketches' 1780-2,(SM volume 40, ff.80v, 73v) for plan and section of chambers above portico, and detail of domed ceiling.

Drawings 3 and 5 were used for Soane's Royal Academy lectures. Drawing 5 seems, like others, 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 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.

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

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