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Final presentation design for a monument to John Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle
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Reference number
SM volume 146, no. 251 (Fauntleroy Pennant, volume I, p. 380)
Purpose
Final presentation design for a monument to John Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle
Aspect
2 Elevation and plan of the monument within the bay
Scale
no scale, but approximately 2 ½ feet to 1 inch
Inscribed
In pencil at bottom left, d. Another pencil inscription (probably C18) has been trimmed from the bottom of the sheet.
Signed and dated
- c.1721-23
Medium and dimensions
Pen and grey ink with grey washes over pencil under drawing
Hand
James Gibbs
Watermark
none visible
Notes
The drawing is of the executed design for the north bay of the east side of the north transept, adjoining the north wall (hence the half plan of the pier on the left). The monument itself closely follows this design and is 'more Baroque than any of Gibbs's buildings' (Bradley and Pevsner, p. 144). Friedman notes the source in Carlo Rainaldi's altar in the church of Gesù e Maria in Rome (1671-80), engraved as plate 48 in G. J. De' Rossi's Disegni di Vari Altari e Cappelle nelle Chiese di Roma (1713). This drawing differs in some details from the design that was engraved by George Vertue in 1725 and published in Gibbs's A Book of Architecture in 1728 (p. 111; Friedman, pl. 77). The colouring of the marble is not indicated (veined marble, with black marble for the sarcophagus and obelisk), and the cupid on the left-hand side of the upper pediment has a sickle, which is missing from the engraving. Much smaller in scale than the initial presentation design at 1, this drawing is probably a record of the approved design, for which models were prepared in 1721. All the figurative drawing appears to be by Gibbs himself.
The standing figures are Prudence on the right and Temperance on the left. The Duke is depicted in a half-seated position, looking up to the two angels seated on the open curved pediment. He holds his ducal coronet in his right hand and a staff in his left hand. For further discussion of the design and contemporary reaction to it, see Friedman, p. 88.
The standing figures are Prudence on the right and Temperance on the left. The Duke is depicted in a half-seated position, looking up to the two angels seated on the open curved pediment. He holds his ducal coronet in his right hand and a staff in his left hand. For further discussion of the design and contemporary reaction to it, see Friedman, p. 88.
Literature
Wren Society, XII (1935), pl. 33, bottom; T. Friedman, James Gibbs, 1984, pp. 87-88, 314, and pls 77, 78); S. Bradley and N. Pevsner, The Buildings of England: London 6: Westminster (New Haven and London, 2003), p. 144.
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