British Senate House design
Architectural Drawing
1778-early 19th century (made)
1778-early 19th century (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
As a consequence of having won the RA gold medal with his Triumphal Bridge (q.v.) Soane received the Academy's even more prestigious three-year royal travelling scholarship. The only stipulation attached by the Academy was that the student recipient send back a sample of his work to each spring exhibition of the RA. Not long after arriving in Rome, Soane began preparing the annual submission for the exhibition of the following year. Soane described the project as 'Composed ... without regard to expense ... amid all the wild imagination of an enthusiastic mind animated by the contemplation of the majestic ruins of the sublime works of imperial Rome' (Soane 1835 II, p.71). He enumerated such sources of inspiration as the Pantheon, the Imperial Baths, and he might have added the colonnades at St Peters, which influenced his own forecourt arrangement. With its eclectic references to an ancient and modern Rome, the British Senate House compares favourably with the visionary schemes of such distinguished Soane predecessors in Italy as Robert Mylne and George Dance. Soane related that his design was criticised at the RA for insufficient 'practical acquaintance with the accommodation necessary' (Soane 1835 I, p. 14). The lighting of the bicameral interior foreshadows Soane's later fascination with what he called 'lumière mysterieuse'.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | British Senate House design (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Pen and ink with grey, pink and brown wash. |
| Brief description | Longitudinal section through the legislative chambers, British Senate House Design; a copy of the original drawing by Sir John Soane; pen and ink with grey, pink and brown wash; late 18th century-first half 19th century; the Richardson Collection. |
| Physical description | Part of an unexecuted design for the British Senate House: longitudinal section though the legislative chambers. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Production type | Copy |
| Object history | Historical significance: Design created by John Soane while on the three-year royal travelling scholarship between 1778-1780. The original design was submitted for the Royal Academy's spring exhibition in 1779. This drawing was pasted into a copy of John Soane’s book Designs for Public and Private Buildings owned by Soane’s assistant Charles James Richardson. Richardson built up a large collection of originals and copies (many of which he executed himself) of his master’s designs, and distributed the bulk of them into two folio volumes, interspersed with the printed pages of the book. These volumes were bought by the South Kensington Museum (now the V&A) in 1863. |
| Production | Copy of an original drawing by Sir John Soane (1778) |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Place depicted | |
| Associations | |
| Summary | As a consequence of having won the RA gold medal with his Triumphal Bridge (q.v.) Soane received the Academy's even more prestigious three-year royal travelling scholarship. The only stipulation attached by the Academy was that the student recipient send back a sample of his work to each spring exhibition of the RA. Not long after arriving in Rome, Soane began preparing the annual submission for the exhibition of the following year. Soane described the project as 'Composed ... without regard to expense ... amid all the wild imagination of an enthusiastic mind animated by the contemplation of the majestic ruins of the sublime works of imperial Rome' (Soane 1835 II, p.71). He enumerated such sources of inspiration as the Pantheon, the Imperial Baths, and he might have added the colonnades at St Peters, which influenced his own forecourt arrangement. With its eclectic references to an ancient and modern Rome, the British Senate House compares favourably with the visionary schemes of such distinguished Soane predecessors in Italy as Robert Mylne and George Dance. Soane related that his design was criticised at the RA for insufficient 'practical acquaintance with the accommodation necessary' (Soane 1835 I, p. 14). The lighting of the bicameral interior foreshadows Soane's later fascination with what he called 'lumière mysterieuse'. |
| Associated objects | |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | 3307:3 |
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| Record created | February 5, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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