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This painting shows an idealised view of the Temporary Elgin Room at the Museum in 1819, with portraits of staff, a trustee and visitors. The room was designed by the Museum’s architect, Robert Smirke, for the temporary display of the sculptures from the Parthenon brought from Athens by Lord Elgin, purchased by the Government and deposited in the British Museum in 1816. The donor, Dr J. E. Gray, Keeper of Zoology, 1840–1874, identified those present from personal recollection. The unidentified couple (rear, right) are visitors whom he remembered 'walking arm-in-arm about the room'. Little is known about the artist, who appears seated at the right of the painting. Dr Gray wrote that the picture 'was exhibited at the artist’s house in Hart Street, Bloomsbury.
Title
The Temporary Elgin Room, 1819
Date
1819
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
H 94 x W 132.7 cm
Accession number
Painting.30
Acquisition method
gift from Dr John Edward Gray, 1872
Work type
Painting
Inscription description
The artist, Archibald Archer is seated at the right hand corner of the painting, his name on the portfolio at his feet. The date [1819] appears in the lower left hand corner.
