During the AD 1700s, Italy had been an essential destination for travellers from northern Europe. Most of these were noble young men on the Grand Tour; others were artists, architects and writers. In the early nineteenth century, some of the more intrepid travellers made their way to Greece and what is now Turkey. Architects in particular gained new inspiration from encountering the physical remains of Greece at first hand rather than through the filter of the Romans. These experiences found expression in a new, Greek, neoclassicism of which the British Museum is one example. Here is a selection of drawings made by travellers in this period.
Temples at Paestum
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Print of the temples at Paestum in south Italy by Robert Scott Lauder; 1822.
See more See more: http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=3407436&partId=1&searchText=paestum&images=true&page=1Temple of Apollo at Bassae
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Drawing of the temple of Apollo at Bassae by Robert Smirke, architect of the British Museum;1802.
See more See more: http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=751247&partId=1&searchText=doric&images=on&page=1Parthenon in Athens
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Drawing of the Parthenon in Athens by William Gell; 1811.
See more See more: http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1431128&partId=1&searchText=parthenon&images=true&page=1Temple of Athena Nike
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Drawing of the temple of Athena Nike in Athens by James Skene; 1847.
See more See more: http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=3451280&partId=1&searchText=temple+of+athena+nike&images=true&page=1Temple of Apollo
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Print of the temple of Apollo at Didyma in present-day Turkey after a drawing by William Pars; 1779.
See more See more: http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=3093021&partId=1&searchText=didyma&images=true&page=1South front of the new British Museum
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The south front of the new British Museum; drawing by Frederick Mackenzie; 1850 – 52.
See more See more: http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=743774&partId=1&searchText=robert+smirke+british+museum+&images=true&page=1