Studio: international art (83.1922)

CANALETTO'S LONDON VIEWS

while to the right of this can be seen
part of Old Northumberland House, of
which we obtain a better and later view
in another of Canaletto's pictures. At
the extreme right of the picture is part
of Montagu House, which stood next to
Richmond House. Montagu House as
we know it to-day is not the same, but
has been built on the same site. 0
Canaletto painted another view of
Whitehall, somewhat similar to the one
just described. It belongs to the Duke
of Buccleuch. It is taken from a point
a little to the south-west of Richmond
House, looking along the wall of the
Privy Garden, and gives us a more ex-
tended and distant view of Whitehall.
On the left is some scaffolding for the
erection of a building at the northern end
of Parliament Street. On the extreme
right, through a gap between Montagu
House and Richmond House, we obtain
a glimpse of the Thames with St. Paul's
in the distance, so that this comprehensive
view contains in some measure the Duke
of Richmond's two views in one picture.

In neither of the views of Whitehall
just described do we obtain any view of
the ** Horse Guards," opposite to the
Banqueting House, for it is hidden by
the Holbein Gateway. Canaletto made
drawings of two different Horse Guards
Buildings, for during his stay in London
the old building was pulled down, and
the present one was built. A pen drawing
by him of the Horse Guards' Parade,
showing the old building, is in the Print
Room of the British Museum. Colonel
Buxton's interesting painting, which we
reproduce, shows the same view of the
Horse Guards' Parade, taken from St.
James's Park, but with the newly erected
building, some scaffolding being still
about the central cupola. 000
Building operations appear to have
engaged much of Canaletto's attention while
he was in London. When he arrived
here the first bridge over the Thames at
Westminster was nearing completion, and
he made many drawings of it during the
various stages of construction. Until this
time there had been only one bridge
over the Thames at London. Of Old
London Bridge, with the houses still on
it, Canaletto made a beautiful pen draw-
6

ing, which may be seen at the British
Museum. The view is taken from the
south, and among the buildings shown
are, from left to right, old Fishmongers'
Hall, the Monument, the water works
tower, and the steeple of St. Magnus.

The first Westminster Bridge was an
unfortunate structure, for after taking
over ten years to build, it lasted for only
about a hundred years. This was
Wordsworth's bridge—the bridge of the
famous sonnet—and Canaletto's numerous
drawings and paintings of it therefore
have an additional interest for us. 0

An original view of London is that of
the City seen through an unfinished
archway of Westminster Bridge. This
painting is in the collection of the Duke
of Northumberland at Alnwick, and is one
of the series painted for his ancestor, Sir
Hugh Smithson. There is also a drawing
of the same subject in the Royal collection,
among those purchased from Joseph
Smith, but in the drawing the same view
is seen through a finished stone arch of
the bridge. Among the buildings recog-
nisable in this view are, on the extreme
left, the curious conical wooden tower of
the York Buildings Water Works, and
near by the York House Water Gate,
designed by Nicholas Stone, which is
still standing at the end of Buckingham
Street. Near the centre of the picture
old Somerset House can be seen with its
river-side gardens and terrace, while
towards the right are St. Bride's, Fleet
Street, and St. Paul's Cathedral. 0

A nearer view of Somerset House,
taken from the river, is obtained in Lady
Du Cane's fine drawing. This is not the
present Somerset House, which was built
by Sir William Chambers, but the earlier
building, demolished in 1775. It was
built originally by the Protector Somerset,
and became the home of several successive
English Queens. Various alterations and
additions to it were made in the course of
time, the most notable being the arcaded
portion of the river front, designed by
Inigo Jones, and clearly shown in
Canaletto's drawing.

Hilda F. Finberg.

(The six half-tone illustrations to this article are
from photographs kindly lent by the Walpole
Society.)