Wash and pen drawing. 19 by 9 in.
View of the bridge and of Westminster from mid-stream. The western
towers of Westminster Abbey, as shown, were completed in 1739. Among
prominent buildings are Westminster Hall, St. Stephen’s Chapel, and
the Church of St. John the Evangelist with its four queer towers
finished in 1728. In the distance is Lambeth Palace. Old Westminster
Bridge, designed by the Swiss architect C. Labelye, was begun in
1738-9 and opened 18 November 1750.
Antonio Canale, the Venetian painter, usually called Canaletto, visited
England in 1746, and remained about two years. During that time he
produced many pictures and drawings, chiefly of London scenes. An
inscription on the back of a picture of the Rotunda at Ranelagh (Nat.
Gal. Cat. 1906, No. 1429) has been thought to prove that he was here
in 1754.
By CANALETTO, _c._ 1747 (1697-1768).
_Lent by H.M. the King._