Unexecuted design for an idealised bridge called 'A Bridge of Magnificence' intended to span the Thames at Somerset House, London: perspective vista through the archways and colonnades of the structure looking towards the domed terminal pavilion

NOTES: Inspired by a triumphal bridge designed by Piranesi and by Palladio's reconstruction of the Roman Ponte Elio, Thomas Sandby's drawings for this 'Bridge of Magnificence' were probably used to illustrate his Royal Academy lectures in the 1770s and 1780s. The design shown here was exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, in 1781 (no. 462, View from the entrance on the bridge).