Drawing
18th century (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Plan of the grotto of the Villa del Pigneto by leading architect and designer Sir William Chambers (1723-1796). Chambers was born in Sweden and died in London. He travelled widely, visiting China, and studied architecture at the Ecole des Arts, Paris, from 1749 and in Italy from 1750 to 1755. Many of his drawings from this period are contained in his important 'Franco-Italian' album, held in the V&A. Chambers moved to London in 1755 and published his influential Treatise on Civil Architecture in 1759. Chambers demonstrated the breadth of his style in buildings such as Gower (later Carrington) House and Melbourne House, London, in such country houses as Duddingston, Scotland, and in the garden architecture he designed for Wilton House, Wiltshire, and at Kew Gardens. He became head of government building in 1782, and in this capacity built Somerset House, London.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Pen and ink, pencil and blue washes |
| Brief description | Plan of the grotto of the Villa del Pigneto, 18th century, by Sir William Chambers (1723-1796). |
| Physical description | Plan of the grotto of the Villa del Pigneto. |
| Dimensions |
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| Production type | Design |
| Object history | Bought from Parsons |
| Historical context | The Villa del Pigneto was designed for the Sacchetti family by Pietro da Cortona. Built on a wooded site just behind St Peter's between 1626 and 1636, it was Cortona's first major commission. Chambers has drawn a section of the recessed entrance to the villa at the top, the rooms under the terrace in front and below, and, at the bottom, the grotto with its fountain. The villa is shown as a picturesque ruin. While this treatment fits in with the then novel idea of showing sound buildings in ruin (see cat. 628), it may also reflect the decayed state of the Villa at the time Chambers drew it (Blunt 1982, fig.89). For a sketch plan of the grotto see cat.380. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Place depicted | |
| Summary | Plan of the grotto of the Villa del Pigneto by leading architect and designer Sir William Chambers (1723-1796). Chambers was born in Sweden and died in London. He travelled widely, visiting China, and studied architecture at the Ecole des Arts, Paris, from 1749 and in Italy from 1750 to 1755. Many of his drawings from this period are contained in his important 'Franco-Italian' album, held in the V&A. Chambers moved to London in 1755 and published his influential Treatise on Civil Architecture in 1759. Chambers demonstrated the breadth of his style in buildings such as Gower (later Carrington) House and Melbourne House, London, in such country houses as Duddingston, Scotland, and in the garden architecture he designed for Wilton House, Wiltshire, and at Kew Gardens. He became head of government building in 1782, and in this capacity built Somerset House, London. |
| Bibliographic reference | Snodin, M. Sir William Chambers. London: V&A Publications, 1996.
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | 7076:41 |
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| Record created | June 30, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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