Exquisite Hues and Magical Effects: The Use of Stained and Colored Glass at 13 Lincoln's Inn Fields

A Lecture by Helen Dorey, MBE, Deputy Director and Inspectress of Sir John Soane's Museum

In 1780, John Soane returned from the Grand Tour with a fresh eye for light and color — daylight streaming through an oculus, marbles aglow in amber dusk, a rich red fragment of wall plaster from Pompeii. In the years that followed, Soane became obsessed with light and the effects it could produce, deploying colored and stained glass, richly pigmented surfaces, and increasingly inventive lighting strategies throughout his interiors at 13 Lincoln’s Inn Fields to generate dramatic, ever-changing scenes.

Today, Sir John Soane’s Museum in London stands as a testament to the architect’s bravura manipulation of color and light, brimming with “exquisite hues and magical effects” (in the words of Soane’s friend, the novelist Barbara Hofland) enjoyed by thousands of visitors each year.

In this lecture, Helen Dorey, longtime Deputy Director and Inspectress of the Soane Museum, will consider the interplay of light and color in Soane’s work and in the Museum to which she has devoted her career.

About Helen Dorey, MBE

Helen Dorey has been Deputy Director of Sir John Soane's Museum since 1995. For 30 years she has worked on the authentic restoration of the Museum, culminating with Soane’s private apartments (opened 2015). Her publications include "John Soane and JMW Turner" and catalogues of Soane’s furniture and stained glass. She has curated exhibitions at the Soane, Tate Britain, and the Royal Academy. Her current projects include the forthcoming restoration of Soane’s drawing office. She is also Chairman of the Scholarship Committee of the Attingham Trust, a Trustee of the Moggerhanger House Preservation Trust, and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries.

About the 2020-2021 Soane Lecture Series: Color and Light

In 1780, John Soane returned from the Grand Tour with a fresh eye for light and color — daylight streaming through an oculus, marbles aglow in amber dusk, a rich red fragment of wall plaster from Pompeii. In the years that followed, Soane became obsessed with light and the effects it could produce, deploying colored and stained glass, richly pigmented surfaces, and increasingly inventive lighting strategies throughout his interiors to generate dramatic, ever-changing scenes.

Today, Sir John Soane’s Museum in London stands as a testament to the architect’s bravura manipulation of color and light, brimming with “exquisite hues and magical effects” (in the words of Soane’s friend, the novelist Barbara Hofland) enjoyed by thousands of visitors each year. Inspired by Soane, our 2020-2021 lecture series considers the interplay of light and color across periods and disciplines, from Soane’s world to the arenas of art, architecture, and design in the twenty-first century.