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Triumphal Bridge design, Parma Academy version

Architectural Drawing
1780-1824 (made)
Artist/Maker
Unknown (draughtsmen (technical))
Soane, John (Sir) (architect)
Place of origin
London (made)

Elevation of the side facade of a triumphal bridge, with a colonnade running along it, a rotunda in the centre and arches at each end. This is the 1780 version of Soane's Triumphal Bridge design; it has been modified from the 1776 design by substituting Doric for Corinthian columns, deleting sculptures and making surfaces more plain.

Object details

Categories
Drawings
Designs
Architecture
Object type
Architectural drawing
TitleTriumphal Bridge design, Parma Academy version (generic title)
Materials and techniques
pencil, pen and ink drawing with grey and yellow wash on paper
Paper (Fiber Product)
Pencil
Pen and Ink
Wash
Architectural Drawing
Brief description
Elevation of the side facade of a Triumphal Bridge, copy of a design by John Soane, ca. 1780
Physical description
Elevation of the side facade of a triumphal bridge, with a colonnade running along it, a rotunda in the centre and arches at each end. This is the 1780 version of Soane's Triumphal Bridge design; it has been modified from the 1776 design by substituting Doric for Corinthian columns, deleting sculptures and making surfaces more plain.
Dimensions
  • Height: 19cm
  • Width: 96cm
Dimensions taken from du Prey, P. de la Ruffinière. Sir John Soane: Catalogues of Architectural Drawings in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1985
Style
Neoclassical
Production typeCopy
Marks and inscriptions
Triumphal Bridge (inscribed in pencil on page)
Object history
John Soane won the Royal Academy's Gold Medal competition in 1776 with his design for a Triumphal Bridge. In 1780 he submitted a sample of his work, consisting of a modified plan, section and elevation of his Triumphal Bridge design, to the Parma Academy in order to be admitted as an honorary member. The original drawings were sent to Parma and have since disappeared; this elevation is a copy by a draughtsman in Soane's office.

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 a 1780 design by John Soane by an anonymous draughtsman in his office
Subjects depicted
Bridges
Elevations
Associations
Soane, John (Sir)
Parma
Bibliographic references
  • du Prey, P. de la Ruffinière. Sir John Soane: Catalogues of Architectural Drawings in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1985, p. 38, cat. 43
  • Soane, J. Description of the House and Museum on the North Side of Lincoln’s Inn Fields, the Residence of Sir John Soane, 2nd ed., London, 1835, pp. 82-3
  • Bolton, A.T. The Works of Sir John Soane, F.R.S., F.S.A., R.A. (1753-1837), London, 1924, pp. 1, 4
  • Kenwood, Iveagh Bequest. Sir John Soane. An Exhibition of Drawings, London, 1956, p. 12, no. 46
  • Stroud, D. ‘Soane’s Designs for a Triumphal Bridge’, Architectural Review, 121 (1957), pp. 260-2
  • du Prey, P. de la Ruffinière. John Soane’s Architectural Education 1753-80, New York, 1977, pp. 315-317
  • du Prey, P. de la Ruffinière. John Soane: The Making of an Architect, Chicago, 1982, pp. 86-87
  • Summerston, J., Watkin, D., Mellinghoff, G.T. John Soane, London, 1983, pp. 10-11, 40-41
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
3306:17

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Record createdJune 30, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O501379/triumphal-bridge-design-parma-academy-architectural-drawing-unknown/
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