Paul Highnam, Burlington House Entrance Gate, 21/06/2010.
© Royal Academy of Arts. © Photo: Royal Academy of Arts, London. Photographer: Paul Highnam.
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Paul Highnam
RA Collection: Art
The Royal Academy wanted a suitably grand carriage entrance from Piccadilly and in place of Campbell's gate, Banks and Barry built a lavishly decorated archway: its coffered underside was peppered with 'VR' (Victoria Regina: Queen Victoria's monogram); its keystones were adorned with symbolic masks; its piers carved with Renaissance-inspired grotesquerie; a tower perched high above; and huge wrought iron gates.