Jacqueline Riding, Basic Instincts Love, Passion and Violence in the Art of Joseph Highmore, Paul Holberton Publishing, London, p. 101, fig. 87, NJ18.H4888 R53 2017 (YCBA)
Gallery Label:
This drawing is one of a set of three interior perspectives of the Foundling Hospital’s chapel (see B1977.14.1148–50). Located in Bloomsbury, London, the Foundling Hospital was designed by Theodore Jacobsen. Completed in 1754, the chapel was situated among the main buildings of the hospital, facing the front court and adjoining the projecting east and west wings. The Foundling Hospital, established as a "Hospital for the Maintenance and Education of Exposed and Deserted Young Children,” was granted a royal charter in 1739 and quickly became one of London’s most popular charities. Prominent artists supported the institution, and their paintings lined the court room and picture gallery. With its organ donated by Handel, the chapel became famous for its musical performances, in turn raising funds for the hospital. This view shows the finished interior, looking west across the center aisle toward the western gallery. The north and south galleries are visible, both lit by five large round-headed windows, the center having a Palladian design. A similar view of the chapel is included in Rudolph Ackermann's publication Microcosm of London (1808), illustrated by Augustus Charles Pugin and Thomas Rowlandson. The Foundling Hospital was demolished in 1928. Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2014