Sir John Soane's Museum

Sir John Soane’s Museum stands in Lincoln’s Inn Fields, Holborn, a quiet square in central London. It occupies three linked town houses, the architect’s former home and workplace. Sir John Soane, a leading neo-classical architect, filled the rooms with his own drawings, models and a vast collection of paintings, sculptures and antiquities gathered over decades. The building also contains Egyptian, Greek and Roman artefacts, including the Sarcophagus of Seti I. In 1833 Parliament passed a special act to preserve the house exactly as Soane left it when he died in 1837. The museum still limits entry to ninety visitors at once to protect the fragile interiors. The collection reflects Soane’s wide interests and friendships. Paintings by Canaletto, Hogarth, Turner, Reynolds and Watteau line the walls alongside Soane’s architectural drawings. His 30,000 drawings include designs for the Bank of England and his own home. A recent addition is the Robert Adam Study Centre, housing nine thousand Adam drawings. The Soane Medal, created in 2017, is awarded annually for contributions to architecture. The museum also runs exhibitions, workshops and candlelit late openings that reveal the house in a different light. Inside, visitors move through Soane’s drawing rooms, picture room and study, each restored to its original colours and arrangement. The picture room recess holds framed works by Piranesi and others. Three small courtyards, including the monument court with its pasticcio of architectural fragments, link the buildings. No. 12, once Soane’s home, now contains the research library and temporary exhibition gallery. The house at No. 14, restored in the 21st century, provides space for education and the Adam Study Centre.