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Scotland: Edinburgh: Greyfriars' Churchyard, Adam Mausoleum. Perspective of the small single-bay Adam mausoleum in Greyfriars' Churchyard, Edinburgh. On the left is a small tree and in the background are the towers of Heriot's Hospital and beyond is Edinburgh Castle.
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Reference number
Adam vol.56/2
Purpose
Scotland: Edinburgh: Greyfriars' Churchyard, Adam Mausoleum. Perspective of the small single-bay Adam mausoleum in Greyfriars' Churchyard, Edinburgh. On the left is a small tree and in the background are the towers of Heriot's Hospital and beyond is Edinburgh Castle.
Aspect
Perspective
Inscribed
Inscribed on album leaf in red ink 2; lettered and dated on drawing, bottom left: Robt Adam Delint/1753
Signed and dated
- 1753
Medium and dimensions
Pencil, pen, grey wash; ink framing line 473 x 378 (trimmed)
Hand
Robert Adam
Watermark
IHS/ Villandry
Notes
The Adam mausoleum in Greyfriars' Churchyard was designed by Robert and John Adam in 1753 to incorporate the tomb of their father, William Adam, who died in 1748. It was completed in October 1755. There is a later drawing of the tomb c.1824 at Blair Adam (BA 671). A design in pencil by Robert Adam for a much larger, three-storied Adam mausoleum, presumably made in the early 1750s, is in the Blair Adam collection (BA 201), inscribed 'The Adamian Sepulchure near/ The Haddingtonian'. A more fanciful scheme can be found in Adam vol.55/37-38.
Literature
Rep. J. Fleming, Robert Adam and His Circle in Edinburgh & Rome, John Murray, London, 1962; repr. 1978, pl.40; D. King, The Complete Works of Robert and James Adam London, 1991, p.360.
Level
Drawing
Exhibition history
The Adam Brothers in Rome: Drawings from the Grand Tour, Sir John Soane's Museum, London, 25 September 2008 - 14 February 2009
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