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Capriccio of a partially ruined tower on a small island or isthmus, approached over a single-span bridge, with another bridge and a small village in the distance. In the foreground is a waterfall with figures and cattle grazing nearby.
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Reference number
Adam vol.56/14
Purpose
Capriccio of a partially ruined tower on a small island or isthmus, approached over a single-span bridge, with another bridge and a small village in the distance. In the foreground is a waterfall with figures and cattle grazing nearby.
Aspect
Perspective
Inscribed
Inscribed in pencil in a later hand aged 16; in red ink 14
Signed and dated
- September 1744
Medium and dimensions
Pencil and pen; ink framing line
303 x 432
Hand
Robert Adam
Notes
The ruined and battlemented tower depicted by Robert Adam is certainly Scottish and medieval, although the landscape setting with the figures in boats and the distant bridge seems invented. There are several Scottish castellated structures on, or near, islands, but none appears to correspond to Adam's composition here (see D. MacGibbon & T. Ross, The Castellated and Domestic Architecture of Scotland, 5 vols., Edinburgh, 1887).
In the Blair Adam collection there is also a view of the island castle of Loch Leven, Kinross-shire, Scotland, possibly made after a drawing by Clerk of Eldin (see BA 11).
This is a copy after a print by Vivares. For an example of the print see the print room at Blickling Hall, Norfolk, or for a print by Cruickshank after the Vivares print see the british Museum collection. Added December 2013 by the Curator of Drawings.
In the Blair Adam collection there is also a view of the island castle of Loch Leven, Kinross-shire, Scotland, possibly made after a drawing by Clerk of Eldin (see BA 11).
This is a copy after a print by Vivares. For an example of the print see the print room at Blickling Hall, Norfolk, or for a print by Cruickshank after the Vivares print see the british Museum collection. Added December 2013 by the Curator of Drawings.
Literature
Rep. J. Lees-Milne, The Age of Adam, London, 1947, p.18
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