Background
Scottish architect, the eldest of four talented brothers, was born at Kirkcaldy, Fifeshire, on July 3, 1728.
Scottish architect, the eldest of four talented brothers, was born at Kirkcaldy, Fifeshire, on July 3, 1728.
Robert Adam attended the University of Edinburgh, after which he took up the study of architecture, presumably in the office of his father. During the early 1750's, Adam visited Italy, where for three years he studied the remains of antique art and architecture.
One result of this sojourn was a conjectural restoration of the Palace of Diocletian at Spalato in Dalmatia, which Adam praised as a culminating work of Roman genius in a volume on the palace published in 1764.
Following his studies abroad, Adam returned to England, where he rapidly forged ahead in his profession, in 1762 being appointed architect to King George III. Adam's first significant work was the famous Adelphi Terrace residences fronting the Thames. Other London works include the Admiralty Gate, portions of Fitzroy Square and Finsbury Circus, and many fine houses in the West End. Adam's work, especially his interior decoration, is original and unique even though strongly tinged with Roman and Italian feeling, and is exquisitely delicate. Adam died in London on March 3, 1792, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. For further information consult The Works in Architecture of Robert and James Adam (Dover Publications, 1979), an unabridged republication of their engraved architectural drawings, originally published between 1778 and 1822.