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Interior of a sepulchral chamber
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Charles Louis Clérisseau (1721 - 1820)
Interior of a sepulchral chamber
Bodycolour on paper
Height: 42.5cm
Width: 57.2cm
Width: 57.2cm
Signed and Dated: Signed lower left Clerisseau 1772 in red; also signed Clerisseau in pencil lower right. The initial letter of the signature lower left is partially covered by the paper slip with wash-line borders which was presumably put onto the drawing by Soane's framers.
Museum number: P326
On display: Morning Room (pre-booked tours only)
All spaces are in No. 13 Lincoln's Inn Fields unless identified as in No. 12, Soane's first house.
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Curatorial note
In the centre of the scene a shrouded corpse is being carried by three men in the direction indicated by a fourth man. Lower right is a weeping seated figure.
Provenance
Bought at Christie's May 20th 1797 as 'Hamilton's copy from Clerisseau' for £15.15s (Soane Archive: Account Book 1797-1803, p.20). This entry can be linked to this specific work because of the entry in the 1837 AB inventory of paintings which reads '326 Drawing in Bodycolours by Hamilton, after Clerisseau' and the entry in the 1840 Catalogue of paintings which describes it as 'by Clerisseau? or Hamilton?'. The frame retains part of its original paper label bearing the museum number '326'.
Exhibition history
Grand Tour: The Lure of Italy in the Eighteenth Century, Tate Britain, October 1996 - January 1997
In Pursuit of Antiquity: Drawings by the Giants of British Neo-Classicism, Sir John Soane's Museum, 1 February - 1 June 2008; Tchoban Foundation Museum für Architekturzeichnung, Berlin, 3 October 2015 - 14 February 2016
In Pursuit of Antiquity: Drawings by the Giants of British Neo-Classicism, Sir John Soane's Museum, 1 February - 1 June 2008; Tchoban Foundation Museum für Architekturzeichnung, Berlin, 3 October 2015 - 14 February 2016
Soane collections online is being continually updated. If you wish to find out more or if you have any further information about this object please contact us: worksofart@soane.org.uk