Architectural Drawing
late 18th century-19th century (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
As a consequence of having won the Royal Academy gold medal with his Triumphal Bridge Soane received the Academy's 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 Royal Academy. Not long after arriving in Rome, Soane began preparing the annual submission for the exhibition of the following year. 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. According to Soane his design was criticised at the Royal Academy for insufficient 'practical acquaintance with the accommodation necessary'. The lighting of the bicameral interior foreshadows Soane's later fascination with what he called 'lumière mysterieuse'.
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. According to Soane his design was criticised at the Royal Academy for insufficient 'practical acquaintance with the accommodation necessary'. The lighting of the bicameral interior foreshadows Soane's later fascination with what he called 'lumière mysterieuse'.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Pen and ink with grey, brown and yellow wash |
| Brief description | Elevation of the entrance façade, British Senate House Design; a copy of the original drawing by Sir John Soane; pen and ink with grey, brown and yellow wash; late 18th century-first half 19th century; the Richardson Collection. |
| Physical description | Elevation of the entrance façade; part of a proposed design for the British Senate House. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Marks and inscriptions | Senate House (Inscribed on page, twice.) |
| Object history | Historical significance: Design created by John Soane while on the three-year royal travelling scholarship between 1778-1780. This drawing was pasted into a copy of Sir 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 original drawing of British Senate House design by Sir John Soane (1778-1780). |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Place depicted | |
| Associations | |
| Summary | As a consequence of having won the Royal Academy gold medal with his Triumphal Bridge Soane received the Academy's 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 Royal Academy. Not long after arriving in Rome, Soane began preparing the annual submission for the exhibition of the following year. 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. According to Soane his design was criticised at the Royal Academy for insufficient 'practical acquaintance with the accommodation necessary'. 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 | 3307:4 |
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| Record created | February 5, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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