The Gallery for Lansdowne House: International Neoclassical Architecture and Decoration in Microcosm

Abstract

In the half-century from the late 1760's to the year 1819, seven different schemes were proposed for the gallery of Lansdowne House in London.1 In this variety can be seen a striking picture of the diversity possible within Neoclassicism, Artists from three countries—France, Italy, and England—are represented, while the passage of fifty years between the earliest and the latest proposal reveals the transition from the delicate refinement of early Neoclassicism to the simpler and more powerful style of the early nineteenth century. Although the project itself was a relatively small one, the people involved included an important collector of antiquities, an archaeologist and antique dealer who was also one of the innovators of Neoclassical history painting, and at least four architects of international standing. With such a cast, it is hardly surprising that the history of this commission is as revealing and as interesting as it is.