Study of a corinthian capital, November 1811

Francis Bedford (1784 - 1858)

RA Collection: Art

A study of a corinthian capital drawn in pen and ink with wash over pencil. Part of the drawing has been left in pencil outline only and on the top right is a detail of the capital shown in section.

It is likely that this drawing was made on the expedition to Greece and Asia Minor that Bedford undertook, along with J. P. Gandy and William Wilkins, between 1811 - 1813. They accompanied Sir William Gell's expedition on behalf of the Society of Dilettanti and their research led to the publication of The Unedited Antiquities of Attica (1817) and the third volume of The Antiquities of Ionia (1840). In 1912 the fifth part of The Antiquities of Ionia, containing work by Bedford, Gandy, and Gell, was also published.