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Capriccio showing a ruined hall, partly roofed, with a coffered apse at one end and pilastered walls. In the foreground is a sarcophagus supported on sphinxes. To the right are architectural fragments, including one depicting three heads in relief.
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Reference number
Adam vol.56/95
Purpose
Capriccio showing a ruined hall, partly roofed, with a coffered apse at one end and pilastered walls. In the foreground is a sarcophagus supported on sphinxes. To the right are architectural fragments, including one depicting three heads in relief.
Aspect
Perspective
Inscribed
Inscribed in ink 53; in red ink on drawing 95
Signed and dated
- Undated, probably 1756 or 1757.
Medium and dimensions
Pencil, pen, blue, brown and grey washes342 x 246, 4 corners trimmed diagonally
Hand
Robert Adam (attributed to)
Notes
The use of a figure relief in the foreground is also found in Adam vol.56/98, and less strikingly in 56/102; the motif of three heads also appears in 56/107. Apart from the viewpoint, the ruined interior and sarcophagus are familiar themes (for example, Adam vol.56/104). This drawing may be compared with a set of compositions by Charles-Louis Clérisseau in The Hermitage (see Charles-Louis Clérisseau (1721-1820) Dessins du musée de l'Ermitage Saint-Petersbourg catalogue of exhibition held at the Musée du Louvre, Paris, 1995, p.147). There is a copy of this drawing by C J Richardson (1806-1871) in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London (P&D 93.G.8/19).
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