A Panoramic View of London, from the Tower of St. Margaret's Church, Westminster

A Panoramic View of London, from the Tower of St. Margaret's Church, Westminster is a painting made in 1815 by Pierre Prévost, acquired by the Museum of London in July 2018. It is particularly significant for its depiction of the pre-1834 Palace of Westminster.

Creation

The work uses watercolour and bodycolour over pencil, on paper, which has been mounted on canvass. It is long. It is a sketch for a larger work, now lost, which was displayed as a visitor attraction in Paris. That work was long (or in diameter; sources vary).

Depictions

Prévost painted the view from the tower of St. Margaret's, including (from left to right):

Westminster Abbey (part) Guildhall Whitehall St Martin-in-the-Fields St James's Park Banqueting House River Thames Waterloo Bridge (under construction) St Paul's Cathedral Westminster Bridge Palace of Westminster Westminster Abbey

This was before the 1834 fire which destroyed much of the Palace of Westminster; and the Palace's subsequent rebuilding.

Provenance

On 4 July 2018, the painting was auctioned at Sotheby's in London, after being re-found in the south of France. It was purchased for £250,000 by the Museum of London, with partial funding by the Art Fund.

References