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Capriccio of a meta on a base with three relief busts and inscriptions on either side, set in a landscape with a large domed building and a four-bay arcade with trees behind.
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Reference number
Adam vol.57/148
Purpose
Capriccio of a meta on a base with three relief busts and inscriptions on either side, set in a landscape with a large domed building and a four-bay arcade with trees behind.
Aspect
Perspective
Inscribed
Inscribed in ink 148
Signed and dated
- Undated, probably 1755 or 1756.
Medium and dimensions
Pencil, grey wash280 x 206
Hand
Robert Adam
Notes
The Meta Sudans beside the Colosseum in Rome was excavated in 1743 and this may have inspired Robert Adam's capriccio. There is a similar drawing in the Clerk Collection, Scotland (Clerk 189), which shows the same meta beside a large lake; it also has the three relief busts and the same inscription as in this drawing: 'Meta Cipci Antica'.A meta is a conical marker post.
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