John Soane: Difference between revisions

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When in [[Rome]], Soane met the builder and [[Bishop of Derry]] [[Frederick Hervey]], whom he accompanied to [[Ireland]]. However, he failed to find work there, so returned to England in [[1780]] and settled in [[East Anglia]] where he established a small architectural practice.

In [[1788]], he becamesucceeded Sir [[Robert Taylor (architect)|Robert Taylor]]as Architect and Surveyor to the [[Bank of England]], the exterior of the Bank being his most famous work. The job, and especially the personal contacts arising from it, increased the success of Soane's practice , and he became [[ARA]] in [[1795]], then full [[RA]] in [[1802]]. He was made Professor of Architecture at the Royal Academy in [[1806]], which he held until death. Then, in [[1814]], he was appointed to the [[Board of Works]], where he remained until [[1832]], when he retired. In [[1831]] Soane received a [[knighthood]].

In [[1792]] Soane bought a house at 12 Lincoln's Inn Fields, [[London]]. He used the house as his home and library, but also entertained potential clients in the drawing room. Between [[1794]] and [[1824]] Soane remodelled and extended the house into two neighbouring properties — partly to experiment with architectural ideas, and partly to house his growing collection of antiquities and architectural salvage. As his practice prospered, Soane was able to collect objects worthy of the [[British Museum]] including the sarcophagus of [[Seti I]], Roman bronzes from [[Pompeii]], several [[Canaletto]]'s and a collection of paintings by [[William Hogarth|Hogarth]]. In [[1833]] obtained an [[Act of Parliament]], to bequethed the house and collection to the British Nation to be made into museum of architecture, now the [[Soane Museum|Sir John Soane's Museum]].