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Westminster Bridge from the North

Unknown

1750

oil

From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum

Rococo painting 18th Century

Dominant colour

About this work

You see Westminster Bridge stretching across the River Thames, with old buildings along the banks and small boats below. People walk and ride in carriages on the bridge, and smoke rises from chimneys in the distance. This painting shows the bridge just a few years after it opened in 1750. It likely copies or follows a scene painted by Canaletto in 1747, which captured the Lord Mayor’s Procession on the river below. Artists often reused popular views, and this version simplifies some details but keeps the busy life along the water. The sky is soft, the light clear, showing a calm day in mid-18th-century London. Look next at the Victoria and Albert Museum to see more views of old London.

The story of this work

Overview

A painting from the mid-18th century depicts Old Westminster Bridge, completed in 1750, spanning the Thames with Westminster Hall and Abbey visible to the right and Lambeth Palace to the left in the background. In the foreground, boats navigate the river while figures and a carriage traverse the bridge. The composition mirrors the elevated viewpoint used by Canaletto in his 1747 depiction of the bridge, a stylistic approach derived from 17th-century Dutch bridge imagery. The work reflects the demand for London cityscapes by Italian artists active in Britain during this period.

Read the full account in the museum source.