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When Dance had been in Italy (1759-1764) he won the Gold Medal competition of the Parma Academy for his design for a public gallery (drawings in the Soane Museum, see J.Lever, Catalogue of the drawings of George Dance the Younger (1741-1825) ... from the collection of Sir John Soane's Museum, 2003, [17].1-8). Soane wanted to emulate Dance’s achievement and began making designs for the subject set by the Parma Academy for 1779-80, a Castello d’acqua (or waterworks) (q.v.). However, he gave up the idea and decided instead to submit a revised version of his Royal Academy design for a triumphal bridge in order to gain some sort of connection with the Academy. Again, he sought help from Dance who suggested alternative designs in a Greek Doric style (see SM 86/2/1 (a-e)). Soane adopted one of the designs and submitted it to the Parma Academy, receiving honorary membership in 1781.
Related drawings at the Victoria and Albert Museum: see P.du Prey, Sir John Soane, 1985, in series of 'Catalogues of the architectural drawings in the Victoria and Albert Museum', cat. 39-43.
Literature. P.du Prey, John Soane's architectural education 1753-80, 1977, p.77-85, 314-7; P.du Prey, John Soane: the making of an architect, 1982, pp.77-87; M.Richardson & M.Stevens (eds), John Soane architect: master of space and light, 1999, pp.86-95; J. Lever, 'The Soane-Dance collaboration, 1771-1799, Architectural History, volume 53, 2010, pp.163-190
Jill Lever, September-November 2005
Sir John Soane's collection includes some 30,000 architectural, design and topographical drawings which is a very important resource for scholars worldwide. His was the first architect’s collection to attempt to preserve the best in design for the architectural profession in the future, and it did so by assembling as exemplars surviving drawings by great Renaissance masters and by the leading architects in Britain in the 17th and 18th centuries and his near contemporaries such as Sir William Chambers, Robert Adam and George Dance the Younger. These drawings sit side by side with 9,000 drawings in Soane’s own hand or those of the pupils in his office, covering his early work as a student, his time in Italy and the drawings produced in the course of his architectural practice from 1780 until the 1830s.
Browse (via the vertical menu to the left) and search results for Drawings include a mixture of Concise catalogue records – drawn from an outline list of the collection – and fuller records where drawings have been catalogued in more detail (an ongoing process).
Contents of Design for a Triumphal Bridge for the Royal Academy Schools Gold Medal competition 1776, later revised and sent to the Parma Academy, 1780, with preliminary designs by George Dance, 1776 and ? 1778, and later copies and perspectives, 1796-c.1827 (21)
- [1] Preliminary design drawn by George Dance, 1776
- [2] Royal Academy Gold Medal competition design, November 1776
- [3] Royal Academy Gold Medal competition design, November 1776
- [4] Royal Academy Gold Medal competition design, November 1776
- [5] Presentation elevation of the river front made after winning the Royal Academy's Gold Medal, 1777
- [6] Alternative schemes for Soane's Parma Academy submission, largely by George Dance, ? 1778 (5)
- [7] Revised design, closely following one of Dance's suggested designs, for the Parma Academy but not submitted, 1779 or 1780
- [8] Record drawing (made in 1796) of the design submitted to the Parma Academy in May 1780
- [9] Record drawing (made in 1796) of the Royal Academy Gold Medal competition design of 1776
- [10] Record drawing (made in 1794 or later) of the design submitted to the Parma Academy, 1780
- [11] Record drawing (made in 1794 or later) of the design submitted to the Parma Academy, 1780
- [12] Imaginative reconstruction of Soane's Royal Academy Gold Medal competition design of 1776 made by Henry Seward, January 1799
- [13] Imaginative reconstruction drawing of Soane's design for a Triumphal Bridge accepted by the Parma Academy in 1780, made by J.M.Gandy, January 1799
- [14] Drawing made for exhibition at the Royal Academy of Soane's design for a Triumphal Bridge accepted by the Parma Academy by J.M.Gandy, 1799
- [15] Drawing for exhibition at the Royal Academy of Soane's R.A. Gold Medal competition design of 1776, made by J.M.Gandy, 1799
- [16] Imaginative reconstruction drawing of design for a Triumphal Bridge, submitted to the Parma Academy, 1780
- [17] Imaginative reconstruction drawing of design for a Triumphal Bridge, design not submitted to the Parma Academy, 1779-80
- [18] Imaginative reconstruction drawing of design for a Triumphal Bridge, Royal Academy Gold Medal design, 1776 made by J.M.Gandy, May-July 1799
- [19] Imaginative reconstruction of Soane's Royal Academy Gold Medal competition design of 1776 made by J.M.Gandy, July-August 1799
- [20] Record drawing (made in 1809) of Soane's presentation elevation (made in 1777) of the river front, Royal Academy Gold Medal competition design of 1776
- [21] Pictorial record drawing (made 1827 or later) by an unidentified hand of the Royal Academy Gold Medal competition design of 1776