The Royal Academy was at the very centre of Soane's architectural career, in the sixty four years from 1772 to 1836 there were only five years, 1778 and 1788-91, in which he did not exhibit any designs there [REF].
Royal Academicians Robert Smirke (painter) father of the architect and his friend Joseph Farington led a campaign against Soane,[REF] as a consequence the Royal Academy introduced a rule forbidding criticism of a living British artist in any lectures delivered there [REF].