Cast of part of a curving soffit from a round building, late 18th century

From: Vatican Museums (Vatican City)

RA Collection: Art

The cast shows a portion of a soffit on the underside of a large curving architrave block which is now in the Museo Chiaramonti of the Vatican (H: 50, L: 145 cm). The carving is well-executed and suggests that the original building, certainly curved, was an impressive monument. The Royal Academy probably acquired the cast from Thomas Lawrence whose collection it purchased in totality in 1830.