“Studying & Drawing”: A Neapolitan Trip by Charles-Louis Clérisseau and Robert Adam in Light of Newly Discovered Drawings

This article presents a group of drawings by Charles-Louis Clérisseau from a newly discovered collection in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. These drawings date from Clérisseau’s study trip to Naples with Robert Adam in April 1755, shortly after he became Adam’s cicerone and drawing instructor. They include studies of ancient ruins, counterparts of which can be found among Adam’s drawings from his grand tour, now held in Sir John Soane’s Museum. Situating this excursion within the artists’ careers, this new research expands on the itinerary of their shared journey and builds on our knowledge of Adam’s first steps as a student of drawing in Italy. The travel studies discussed here illustrate the training of the architect-artist in the eighteenth century, emphasizing the era’s significance for draftsmanship. By addressing these drawings in the context of learning through copying, this article furthers our understanding of the concept of copying in architectural history.