John Soane's cabinet of curiosities : reflections on an architect and his collection /

John Soane's cabinet of curiosities : reflections on an architect and his collection /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:	Boucher, Bruce, author.
Imprint:	New Haven ; London : Yale University Press, [2024] ©2024
Description:	224 pages : illustrations (chiefly color), color plans ; 28 cm
Language:	English
Subject:	Soane, John, -- 1753-1837 -- Art collections. Sir John Soane's Museum. Art -- Private collections -- England -- London.
Format:	Print Book
URL for this record:	http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/13497852

Hidden Bibliographic Details
ISBN:	9780300275698 0300275692
Notes:	Includes bibliographical references (pages 187-197) and index.
Summary:	An in-depth study that sheds a fascinating new light on Sir John Soane (1753?1837) and his world-renowned collection.0Sir John Soane?s architecture has enjoyed a revival of interest over the last seventy years, yet Soane as a collector?the strategy behind and motivation for Soane?s bequest to the nation?has remained largely unexplored. While Soane referred to the display of objects in his house and museum as ?studies for my own mind,? he never explained what he meant by this, and the ambiguity surrounding his motivation remains perennially fascinating.0This book illuminates a side of Soane?s personality unfamiliar to most students of his life and work by examining key strands in his collection and what they reveal about Soane and the psychology of collecting. Topics include the display of antiquities; his fascination with ruins, both literal and figurative; his singular response to Gothic architecture; and his investment in modern British painting and sculpture. These aspects are bookended by an introductory biographical chapter that highlights the ways in which his family and career informed his collecting habits as well as an epilogue that analyses the challenges of turning a private house and collection into a public museum.

Table of Contents:

Foreword
Preface
Chapter 1. Prologue: Becoming John Soan(e)
Chapter 2. A Maze without a Plan? John Soane's Display of Antiquities
Chapter 3. Soane's 'Etruscan' Vases
Chapter 4. A Life in Ruins
Chapter 5. The Monk's Parlour: Gothic Architecture or a Gothic Novel?
Chapter 6. A Temple of British Worthies: Shakespeare and Hogarth
Chapter 7. The Tivoli Recess: Soane and Modern British Sculpture
Chapter 8. A Migration of Paintings: The Old and New Picture Rooms
Chapter 9. Epilogue: Becoming a Museum
Appendix
Bibliography
Museum Floor Plans
Abbreviations
Notes
Index
Picture Credits