bar scale of English feet 3/11in to 1ft. An unusual scale but found, for instance, in two of George Dance the Elder's drawings.

as above

Pen and sepia wash, pencil, partly pricked for transfer within double ruled border on laid paper (534 x 721)

Soane

J Honig & Zoonen with fleur-de-lis within crowned cartouche with bell below, and JH

Another example of Soane's collaboration with Thomas Hardwick in the shared task of measuring a building. An almost identical plan dated '1778' on paper with the same watermark, but fewer measurements, was drawn by Hardwick and is in the RIBA Drawings Collection (SB57/8). Soane's enjoyment of the building is evident in the atmospheric washes and shadows added to the drawings and also in the amount of detail he conveys.

The Villa Madama, intended for entertainment rather then habitation, was sited on the lowest slopes of Monte Mario on the outskirts of Rome. Built for Cardinal Giulio de Medici, later Pope Clement VII, from 1518 on a plan devised by Raphael (1483-1520), the work was continued by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger. The Loggia was decorated with stucco reliefs by Giovanni da Udine and paintings by Giulio Romano, 1520-5. Though never completed, the Villa Madama with its Loggia and garden was profoundly influential. Now used by the Italian government and rarely open to the public. Professor du Prey noted (January/February 2009) that he had checked out Soane's measurements and found them very accurate.

P.du Prey, John Soane's architectural education 1753-80, 1977, pp.116-7
P.du Prey, (J.Lever editor), Catalogue of the Drawings Collection of the Royal Institute of British Architects, volume G-K, 1973, p.93^2-3

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