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Capriccio showing a square mausoleum or small villa on two floors with pedimental attic storey, a circular cupola and shallow dome above. It is approached by a ramped stair, with figures and animals in the foreground landscape.
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Reference number
Adam vol.56/114
Purpose
Capriccio showing a square mausoleum or small villa on two floors with pedimental attic storey, a circular cupola and shallow dome above. It is approached by a ramped stair, with figures and animals in the foreground landscape.
Aspect
Perspective
Inscribed
Inscribed in ink 74; in red ink 114
Signed and dated
- Undated, probably 1756 or 1757.
Medium and dimensions
Pencil, pen, brown and grey washes201 x 300, 4 corners trimmed diagonally
Hand
Robert Adam
Notes
This composition is untypical of the other capricci in this volume in that it shows a building that is not in ruins. It more closely resembles drawings of small buildings that are found in Adam volume 55 (see Adam vol.55/51 verso) and can also be compared with the square pavilion depicted in Adam vol.56/54. However, the compositions in volume 55 generally lack the carefully drawn landscape setting shown here. One of the foreground figures is shown sketching the scene, watched by the other figure. The classical source for this composition may be the mausoleum Camare Sepolcrati on the Via Attica, a view of which is found in Piranesi Le Antichità Romane (1756), pl.I, Title page to vol.I).
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