• Undated

Red chalk 391 x 514

Nicolas-François-David Lhuiller (attributed to)

fleur de lys in double circle

This drawing is a variation on the frieze of the Temple of the Sun, which was in the Colonna gardens, Rome, in the eighteenth century. There is a probable detail of the base of the putto in Adam vol.26/52, which is inscribed 'Colonna Garden - fragment of the Temple of the Sun / Rome'. The drawing overlays an original sheet of sketch details. There is a large group of black and red chalk drawings in this volume attributed to Nicolas-François-David Lhuiller (d.1793), showing the same clarity of outline and background vertical strokes. Little is known of Lhuiller, who was a Roman protégé of Charles-Louis Clérisseau (1721-1820). He was described as 'dans le même temps que Clérisseau formait un sculpteur d'ornements, qui devint aussi très habile, L'huiller, ce professeur dirigea ses études à Rome sur les plus beaux ornements, lui en développa les principes dont il avait fait une étude particulière, et lui procura des travaux considérables pour divers anglais avec lesquels il était en correspondance' (see Charles-Louis Clérisseau (1721-1820) Dessins du musée de l'Ermitage Saint-Petersbourg, catalogue of an exhibition held at the Musée du Louvre, Paris, 1995, p.23).

Drawing

'Bob the Roman': Heroic Antiquity and the Architecture of Robert Adam, Sir John Soane's Museum, London, 27 June - 27 September 2003; New York School of Interior Design Gallery, 29 September - 4 December 2004

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