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Unfinished plan showing two oval courts, a theatre at one end connected to a chapel by a long rectangular gallery, off which is a columned anteroom.
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Reference number
Adam vol.7/175
Purpose
Unfinished plan showing two oval courts, a theatre at one end connected to a chapel by a long rectangular gallery, off which is a columned anteroom.
Aspect
Plan
Inscribed
Inscribed in ink probably in Robert Adam's hand chapd / cryptoporticus or Gallery / Theatre / Atrium, Dining/ room / Gallery / vestibulum / A chamber / Drawing
verso Inscribed in ink in a contemporary hand Ds of Marcellus's Theatre with dimensions in French ft beside pen diagram
Signed and dated
- Undated
Medium and dimensions
Pen
187 x 235
Hand
Robert Adam (attributed to)
Verso
The note here probably refers to the plans for the theatre of Marcellus in an edition of A.-B. Desgodetz's Édifices antiques de Rome (first published Paris, 1682), which was in the Adam library (see D. Watkin, ed. Sale Catalogues of Libraries of Eminent Persons, vol. 4, Architects, London, 1972, p.161).
Watermark
Shield with letter CF
Notes
The theatre design here seems little related to the classical, and the various rooms, such as 'chapel' and 'drawing room' suggest this is a contemporary palace design, possibly for Richmond, Surrey (see A. A. Tait, Robert Adam: drawings and imagination, Cambridge, 1993, p.53-56). The plan may also be related to the theatre shown in Adam vol.7/170 and 171, and the sketch plan in Adam vol.7/176. The ink inscriptions on the drawing are probably in Robert Adam's hand.
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