Sir John Soane by Sir William Reid Dick, RA 1878-1961. Unveiled 1937. Stone. North wall of the Bank of England. Threadneedle Street, London EC2. Click on images to enlarge them.
Sir John Soane is honoured here because he was the architect of the Bank of England from 1788 to 1833. By 1833 he had doubled its size by remodelling, replacing and extending the older buildings (Watkin). Although the complex has been rebuilt again since then, Soane's curtain wall still serves as its outer wall, and the Bank of England Museum is housed in a reconstruction of his late 18c. Bank Stock Office. Soane also rebuilt his own home in Lincoln's Inn Fields, and, amongst other works, designed the Dulwich Picture Gallery. He was especially noted for his "handling of space and light" (Watkin). In 1792 he had become Professor of Architecture at the Royal Academy; one of the many Victorian architects who trained and worked under him was George Basevi.
Another View and Related Material
- The Bank of England and the Royal Exchange (The Bank of England is on the left of this photograph)
- Sir John Soane Museum, London
[Click on pictures below for larger images. Photograph, caption, and commentary 2011 by the author. You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the photographer and (2) link your document to this URL or cite it in a print one.]
Bibliography
Bullus, Claire, & Ronald Asprey. The Statues of London. London & New York: Merrell, 2009.
Watkin, David. "Soane, Sir John (1753-1837)." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Online ed. 23 Jan. 2011.
Last modified 28 January 2011