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London: Parliament House (designs for). Design for a baldacchino showing four columns with acanthus capitals and arabesque and sculptural decoration. The shallow dome is supported by dolphins and surmounted by a crown. At the base above six steps and on separate plinths are a lion and unicorn.
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Reference number
Adam vol.7/70
Purpose
London: Parliament House (designs for). Design for a baldacchino showing four columns with acanthus capitals and arabesque and sculptural decoration. The shallow dome is supported by dolphins and surmounted by a crown. At the base above six steps and on separate plinths are a lion and unicorn.
Aspect
Perspective
Scale
Pencil scale
Signed and dated
- Undated, probably 1762
Medium and dimensions
Pencil, pen, grey wash
533 x 405
Hand
James Adam (attributed to)
Verso
Two unfinished pencil drawings showing perspective diagrams.
Notes
The plan for the baldacchino shown here in elevation is shown in Adam vol.7/68 and both were intended for James Adam's Parliament House scheme of 1762/63. The inspiration for his design lay in examples found in numerous Roman churches, of which the baroque baldacchino for St Peter's by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) was the most notable, and that for Santa Maria Maggiore of c.1743 by Ferdinando Fuga (1699-1782) the most contemporary. The conservative composition here makes a striking contrast with the baldacchino proposed by Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-1778) for San Giovanni in Laterano of 1763/4, which James Adam knew (see J. Wilton-Ely, Piranesi as Architect and Designer, London, 1993, p.80, pls.78-9). Adam's baldacchino sheltered a throne rather than an altar, as is shown in the pencil sketch in Adam vol.7/202 verso.
Literature
Repr. J. Fleming, Robert Adam and His Circle in Edinburgh & Rome, London, 1962, pl.91.
Level
Drawing
Exhibition history
The Adam Brothers in Rome: Drawings from the Grand Tour, Sir John Soane's Museum, London, 25 September 2008 - 14 February 2009
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