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Principal Front: Façade of Buildings for Science and Art Department facing Cromwell Road

Design
ca. 1860 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Based on a design by Francis Fowke, the elevation for the Cromwell Road front of the Victoria and Albert Museum shown in this print belongs to a scheme that, proposing buildings arranged around a large central court, flanked by curving colonnades, would have dramatically increased the size and grandeur of the early Museum (see also E.1023-1927, E.924-1976, E.1320, E.1321). Indeed, dateable to 1860, the print was produced at a time when the Museum – which had opened on the site only three years before – was mainly housed in temporary accommodation. Some elements seen at the heart of this design would, once altered and refined, be carried out: namely the central court, and the lecture theatre range that forms its northern side. However, the open arcade and the curving colonnades flanked by three-storey blocks remained unexecuted. Later, the south side of the court was instead closed with the National Art Library range (begun ca. 1878). The area between this range and Cromwell Road was subsequently developed to designs by Aston Webb (finished in 1909).


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitlePrincipal Front: Façade of Buildings for Science and Art Department facing Cromwell Road
Materials and techniques
Colour lithograph on paper
Brief description
Design for Victoria and Albert Museum by Francis Fowke, Cromwell Road elevation, ca. 1860
Physical description
Colour lithograph on paper. In the centre, this elevation for the Cromwell Road front of the Victoria and Albert Museum shows a single-storey arcade of round-headed arches supported by columns. The arcade forms the south side of a courtyard: beyond it can be seen the raised frontispiece of the principle façade of the lecture theatre building, here surmounted with a parapet, behind which is glimpsed a dome. The ground-floor arcade closing the courtyard is flanked by curving colonnades, framed by three-storey blocks. Round-headed arches feature extensively, those on the upper storeys frequently being paired.
Dimensions
  • Height of paper height: 20cm
  • Width of paper width: 64.8cm
Credit line
Presented by Madame Mangeot
Places depicted
Summary
Based on a design by Francis Fowke, the elevation for the Cromwell Road front of the Victoria and Albert Museum shown in this print belongs to a scheme that, proposing buildings arranged around a large central court, flanked by curving colonnades, would have dramatically increased the size and grandeur of the early Museum (see also E.1023-1927, E.924-1976, E.1320, E.1321). Indeed, dateable to 1860, the print was produced at a time when the Museum – which had opened on the site only three years before – was mainly housed in temporary accommodation. Some elements seen at the heart of this design would, once altered and refined, be carried out: namely the central court, and the lecture theatre range that forms its northern side. However, the open arcade and the curving colonnades flanked by three-storey blocks remained unexecuted. Later, the south side of the court was instead closed with the National Art Library range (begun ca. 1878). The area between this range and Cromwell Road was subsequently developed to designs by Aston Webb (finished in 1909).
Bibliographic references
  • Victoria and Albert Museum, Department of Engraving, Illustration and Design and Department of Paintings, Accessions 1927, London: Board of Education, 1928.
  • Physick, John. The Victoria and Albert Museum: The History of Its Building. London: The Victoria & Albert Museum, 1982.
Collection
Accession number
E.1319-1927

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Record createdJune 30, 2009
Record URL
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