In London, Wonders of the World in Miniature

When John Soane, a famed architecture professor at the Royal Academy in London, taught scientific and artistic principles of construction in the early 19th century, he used architectural models created by the master designer François Fouquet.
Twenty of the rarest and most beautiful of these detailed plaster models of famous monuments from ancient Greece, Rome and the Near East are on view in “Wonders of the Ancient World: François Fouquet’s Model Masterpieces,” running through Sept. 24 at Sir John Soane’s Museum (13 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, 44-20-744-0426; www.soane.org). The collection provides an intriguing record of historically significant architecture, as well as insights into how the English incorporated ancient architectural principles into their buildings.
“My favorite,” said Jerzy Kierkuc-Bielinski, the museum’s curator, “is the Temple of Neptune at Palmyra. It could be a miniature skyscraper. With its incredible sculptural decoration, it looks like a confection.”
The models also include representations of the Temple of Venus at Baalbec; the Parthenon, the Arch of Hadrian and Tower of Winds in Athens; the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world; the Temple of Vesta at Tivoli; and the Pantheon and the Temple of Fortuna Virillis in Rome.
Each one is constructed over a metal armature, fixed to wooden bases and enclosed in glass domes. (Although it’s not part of the exhibit, Fouquet also made a model of the Virginia Capitol for Thomas Jefferson.)
The museum commissioned a limited edition of replicas of the Temple of Vesta at Tivoli from the British master craftsman Timothy Rogers, which can be purchased online at the museum shop or at the museum.