Sir John Soane's Museum
13 Lincoln's Inn Fields
London
WC2A 3BP
T: 020 7405 2107
Visitor Information
Open: 10am-5pm Tue-Sat and 6-9pm first Tue in every month
Home of architect Sir John Soane RA (1753-1837) who designed this house to live in, as well as to provide a setting for his extraordinary collection of antiquities and works of art. The house not only displays Soane's architectural brilliance but contains an important and eclectic collection of china, sculpture, oil paintings, stained glass, architectural models, coins, clocks and alabaster frescoes. The more notable exhibits include the two series of pictures by William Hogarth 'A Rake's Progress and An Election' three paintings by Caneletto and three by JMW Turner.
But it is more the manner in which the exhibits are displayed that deserves special mention. The Picture room, for example, contains a total of more than 100 works, mounted on walls that are, in fact, hinged screens and so double the space of the room. Other highlights to watch out for include the Sepulchral Chamber, containing the sarcophagus of Pharaoh Seti, one of the most important Egyptian antiquities ever to be discovered and the basement Crypt which is reminiscent of a Roman burial chamber and crammed with cleverly arranged plaster models (or design-prototypes) of famous marble monuments.