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Sir John Soane’s Museum

  • Museums
  • Holborn
  • price 0 of 4
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • Recommended
  1. Inside a grand room painted red with paintings hung on the wall
    Photograph: Jess Hand / Time Out
  2. Grand room full of busts and marble sculptures
    Photograph: Jess Hand / Time Out
  3. room full of paintings
    Photograph: Jess Hand / Time Out
  4. Room full of paintings
    Photograph: Jess Hand / Time Out
  5. Inside a stone coffin
    Photograph: Jess Hand / Time Out
  6. Outside of a large brick building
    Photograph: Jess Hand / Time Out
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Time Out says

5 out of 5 stars

When he wasn’t designing notable buildings (among them the original Bank of England), Sir John Soane (1753-1837) obsessively collected art, furniture and architectural ornamentation. In the nineteenth century, he turned his house into a museum to which, he said, ‘amateurs and students’ should have access. The result is this perfectly amazing place.

Much of the museum’s appeal derives from the domestic setting. The modest rooms were modified by Soane with ingenious devices to channel and direct daylight, and to expand space, including walls that open out like cabinets to display some of his many paintings (Canaletto, Turner, Hogarth). The Breakfast Room has a beautiful domed ceiling, inset with convex mirrors. The extraordinary Monument Court contains a sarcophagus of alabaster, so fine that it’s almost translucent, that was carved for the pharaoh Seti I (1291-78 BC) and discovered in his tomb in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings. There are also numerous examples of Soane’s eccentricity, not least the cell for his imaginary monk ‘Padre Giovanni’.

In May 2015 the Museum opened Soane's private apartment and Model Room to the public. The apartments had not been open to visitors for over 160 years, so guests paying a visit to the fully restored model room, bedroom, bathroom, book passage, oratory and morning room will get a true glimpse of London's past.

Details

Address:
13 Lincoln's Inn Fields
London
WC2A 3BP
Transport:
Tube: Holborn
Price:
Free, £12.50 tours
Opening hours:
Wed-Sun 10am-5pm
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What’s on

Fanciful Figures

Have you ever looked at an old painting of a beautiful landscape or a fancy house and wondered why the artist bothered to include miniature depictions of people and animals in the foreground? This exhibition at the John Soane’s Museum will unpick why exactly these little figures matter. ‘Staffage’ – the small human and animal figures in architectural and landscape drawings, which first appeared in the late seventeenth century in Britain have much more meaning than might meet the eye. Through a selection of carefully curated works, this fun exhibition will explore their historical significance and their importance in displaying a window into everyday life from the past. 

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