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  • image Adam vol.57/146

Reference number

Adam vol.57/146

Purpose

Capriccio of a group of stone blocks forming a fountain, with an antique lidless sarcophagus serving as the basin, being used by three washerwomen with baskets. In the background is a pilastered colonnade.

Aspect

Perspective

Inscribed

Inscribed in ink 146

Signed and dated

  • Undated, probably 1755 or 1756.

Medium and dimensions

Pencil, pen, brown wash280 x 221

Hand

Charles-Louis Clérisseau

Notes

Charles-Louis Clérisseau's composition of stone blocks here is similar to that of antique fragments in his drawing in Adam vol.57/140, and to other drawings by Robert Adam in Adam vol.57/137 and 57/153. Washerwomen using a sarcophagus as their basin is a traditional motif found in views of the antique, and can be found in several similar compositions in Adam volume 56 (see for example Adam vol.56/92).

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