Inscribed
Inscribed in ink on drawing 14
Signed and dated
Medium and dimensions
Pencil, pen220 x 311
Hand
Robert Adam
Verso
Study in pen of an interior plan showing semi-engaged columns with their dimensions.
Watermark
bird on monti circle
Notes
This composition is in the strong picturesque style of Salvator Rosa (1615-1673) and may have been taken from one of his prints. A similar landscape can be seen in Adam vol.54/Series 5/18 and in Adam vol.55/162 verso. In 1760 James Adam bought '... 2 landscapes by Poussin and one by S. Rosa - all clever and I'm sure will please Bob' (see J. Fleming, Robert Adam and His Circle in Edinburgh & Rome, London, 1962, p.372). Two of Rosa's paintings appeared in the Adam sale of 1821 (Christie's London Catalogue of the Effects of Robert Adam Esq. Dec. 9 July 1821 & following days) and there is a small drawing after him in volume 56 (see Adam vol.56/31). A similar style of drawing is found in Robert Adam's proposals for the landscape at Kedleston in Derby, see especially his design for a grotto 'of the early 1760s' (see L. Harris, Robert Adam and Kedleston, London, 1987, p.85, pl.72). The remains of a sketch for a similar composition is apparent on the verso of Adam vol.28/1. The pencil drawing has been partially inked over.This drawing may have been inspired by the picturesque landscape through which Robert Adam passed on his way home in 1757.
Level
Drawing
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