'The Burning of the House of Lords and Commons, 16th October 1834', Joseph Mallord William Turner

Artwork details

Artist

Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775‑1851)

Title

The Burning of the House of Lords and Commons, 16th October 1834

Date exhibited 1835

MediumOil paint on canvas

Dimensionssupport: 921 x 1232 mm

Collection

Philadelphia Museum of Art: The John Howard McFadden Collection, 1928

Turner Worldwide

Reference

TW1258

Butlin & Joll 359

Turner Worldwide text

Label Text:

“Shortly before 7 o'clock last night the inhabitants of Westminster, and of the districts on the opposite bank of the river, were thrown into the utmost confusion and alarm by the sudden breaking out of one of the most terrific conflagrations that has been witnessed for many years past. . . . The Houses of the Lords and Commons and the adjacent buildings were on fire.”

So wrote the London Times on October 17, 1834. Turner witnessed the event, along with tens of thousands of spectators, and recorded what he saw in quick sketches that became the basis for this painting. Flames consume Saint Stephen's Hall, the House of Commons, and eerily illuminate the towers of Westminster Abbey, which would be spared. On the right the exaggerated scale and plunging perspective of Westminster Bridge intensify the drama of the scene, which Turner observed from the south bank of the Thames River… (read more)