Architecture · London, England
Sir John Soane’s Museum
The architect’s own house, crammed with antiquities, paintings and ingenious interiors.
Sir John Soane's Museum is the former home and studio of the architect of the Bank of England, who rebuilt a row of houses on Lincoln's Inn Fields over several decades. Soane secured an Act of Parliament in 1833 so that when he died in 1837 the house and everything in it would pass to the nation and be kept as he left it.
Inside, a maze of top-lit rooms, domes and hidden panels is packed with antiquities, architectural casts, models, drawings and paintings, including works by Hogarth, Canaletto and Turner. Visitor numbers are limited because of the small spaces, and entry is free, with paid tours and evening events alongside.
Highlights
- Hogarth's A Rake's Progress in the Picture Room
- Egyptian sarcophagus of Seti I
- Top-lit Dome area crowded with casts and fragments
- Restored Drawing Office and Private Apartments tours
![Afrique occidentale française : Cathédrale à St Louis / [photogr. Eugène] Gallois ; [photogr. reprod. par Radiguet et Massiot pour la conférence donnée par] Gallois](https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0a/Afrique_occidentale_fran%C3%A7aise_-_Cath%C3%A9drale_%C3%A0_St_Louis_-_%28photogr._Eug%C3%A8ne%29_Gallois_%3B_%28photogr._reprod._par_Radiguet_et_Massiot_pour_la_conf%C3%A9rence_donn%C3%A9e_par%29_Gallois_-_btv1b532798828.jpg/500px-thumbnail.jpg)
![[Golestan, Le Salon et Fete de l'equinode, Teheran, Iran (le Pavillion du Trone)]](https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/33/-Golestan%2C_Le_Salon_et_Fete_de_l%27equinode%2C_Teheran%2C_Iran_%28le_Pavillion_du_Trone%29-_MET_DP202918.jpg/500px--Golestan%2C_Le_Salon_et_Fete_de_l%27equinode%2C_Teheran%2C_Iran_%28le_Pavillion_du_Trone%29-_MET_DP202918.jpg)
![Théâtre de la guerre dans l'Inde sur la coste de Coromandel / par M.B.C.T. [Monsieur Bourcet Capitaine ?] ; gravé par Croisey](https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/99/Fort_de_Calicuta_-_btv1b59706294.jpg/500px-Fort_de_Calicuta_-_btv1b59706294.jpg)
