University of Oxford : Radcliffe Camera (Oxford, England) : Aerial context view, looking north from St Mary The Virgin

Creator:

Gibbs, James, 1682-1754

Published/Created:

Radcliffe Square, University of Oxford, Oxford, England, United Kingdom
1737-1749

Date Depicted:

6/2/2007
1700 AD - 1799 AD

Materials:

stone

Notes:

Gibbs was a pupil of Carlo Fontana in Rome. Gibbs was one of seven leading architects invited in 1720 to submit designs for the new Radcliffe Library in Oxford, although he initially lost the commission to Nicholas Hawksmoor. In the 1740s ill-health and concentration on the Radcliffe Library (or Camera) project (awarded to Gibbs on the death of Hawksmoor in 1736) led to a drop in his output. With the Radcliffe Library, after initially proposing an unadventurous but practical rectangular building, Gibbs was instructed to adopt and elaborate the domed rotunda form bequeathed by Hawksmoor. The result is Gibbs's finest building, again drawing on a wide range of sources and at once richer and more elegant than his predecessor's design but also less powerfully original. The word camera translates from Latin as "room" or "chamber." [Today it is part of the Bodleian Library, with books in the Camera and also in rooms below Radcliffe Square.]

Topics:

Architecture -- Britain -- 18th century -- (YVRC)

Period/Style:

Baroque
Palladian

Culture:

British

Accession Number:

1A2-E-O-RC-A3

Genre:

architecture (AAT)
schools: universities and colleges (buildings) (AAT)

Format:

Image

Content Type:

Sculptures, Models, & Architecture

Rights:

Copyright Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc
The use of this image may be subject to the copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) or to site license or other rights management terms and conditions. The person using the image is liable for any infringement.

Access Restrictions:

Yale Community Only

Digital:

architectural exteriors; Education; educational; books; reading room construction buildings; libraries (buildings) aerial views; dome

Source Creator:

Gilchrist, Scott

Source Title:

Archivision Module Three

Source Created:

2878 Chamonix, Montreal QC
Archivision, Inc.
6/2/2007

Source Note:

Purchase, Visual Resources Collection, May, 2011; photographer Scott Gilchrist

Yale Collection:

Visual Resources Collection

Digital Collection:

Visual Resources Collection

Local Record Number:

4152

OID:

10163373

PID:

digcoll:1856914