A Panoramic View of London, from the Tower of St. Margaret's Church, Westminster
Artist	Pierre Prévost
Year	1815 (1815)
Medium	Watercolor, paper, canvas
Subject	Panorama of Westminster
Dimensions	85 cm × 605 cm (2.79 ft × 19.85 ft)
Location	Museum of London
Owner	Museum of London

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.^[1] It is 605 centimetres (19.85 ft) long.^[1] It is a sketch for a larger work, now lost, which was displayed as a visitor attraction in Paris.^[1][2][3] That work was 30 metres (98 ft) long^[2] (or in diameter; sources vary^[1]).

Depictions

Prévost painted the view from the tower of St. Margaret's, including (from left to right):^[1]

• 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.^[2]

Provenance

On 4 July 2018, the painting was auctioned at Sotheby's in London,^[1] after being re-found in the south of France.^[3] It was purchased for £250,000^[1] by the Museum of London, with partial funding by the Art Fund.^[2]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to A Panoramic View of London, from the Tower of St. Margaret's Church, Westminster.