Design for a Pantheon-style temple: longitudinal section, c.1770

John Yenn RA (1750 - 1821)

RA Collection: Art

This is one of a set of three drawings, with 09/675 showing the front elevation and 09/676 showing a side elevation. The building is a garden temple, the design based upon the Pantheon in Rome. In this longitudinal section, the building is shown as in the side elevation, but cut through the centre. The internal structure is revealed with the great open space of the coffered domed hall crowned by an oculus that, unlike the original which is open to the elements, has here been capped by a glass lantern. The parts are colour-coded: yellow for timber and, although red is typically brick, in this case the speckling may denote concrete, as in the original ancient Roman structure.