Prospect of the Cathedral Church of St Paul’s, London

Location

Country: UK
City: London
Place: Royal Hospital, Chelsea (long-term loans)

The numerous figures strolling around St. Paul’s Cathedral in this view are dwarfed by the immense structure before them. A statue of Queen Anne is seen in front of the Cathedral steps. The version of the statue depicted is the original sculpture by Francis Bird (1667-1731), completed in 1712. By 1885 it was showing signs of deterioration and was replaced by a near replica, made by sculptor Richard Claude Belt (1851-1920). The original was saved from destruction by 19th-century travel writer Augustus Hare and is still located in the grounds of his former home: Holmhurst, in Baldslow, Sussex. The original sculpture has deteriorated further and is now on English Heritage’s ‘Heritage at Risk’ Register.

Little is known about Dutch printmaker A. de Putter and few examples of his work are known. He was working as an engraver in Amsterdam during the first half of the 18th century. In addition to his engraving ‘Prospect of the Cathedral Church of St Paul's, London’, he engraved a ‘View of the Town Hall in Amsterdam’ (1719), ‘Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem‘(c.1738) and illustrations to the writings of the French Benedictine Antoine Augustin Calmet (1672-1757) and the French polymath Louis Bourguet (1678-1742).

Places

England, London, City of London

Subjects

statue (as Subject), topography, genre, dog, man, woman, railing, monument, church, cathedral, dome, portico, steps

Materials & Techniques

engraving, coloured engraving

Artist

A de Putter

Title

Prospect of the Cathedral Church of St Paul’s, London

Date

c.1720

Medium

Coloured engraving

Dimensions

height: 56.00 cm, width: 87.00 cm

Acquisition

Purchased 1947-1948

Inscription

below lettering [right, in ink] 13 [faded]

GAC number

500