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Constable: The Great Landscapes  1 June - 28 August 2006

Works in Focus


The Opening of Waterloo Bridge 1832

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John Constable, The Opening of Waterloo Bridge, 1832
John Constable
The Opening of Waterloo Bridge ('Whitehall Stairs, June 18th, 1817'), 1832
© Tate
Detail 12: Lord Mayor’s barge Detail 11: Shot Tower Detail 10: St Paul’s Cathedral Detail 9: Somerset House Detail 8: The Adelphi Detail 7: The royal barges Detail 6: The Prince Regent Details 4 and 5: Fife House and Garden of Grantham House Detail 3: St Martin-in-the-Fields Detail 2: 5 Whitehall Yard Detail 1: Pembroke House
 
 
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Detail of The Opening of Waterloo Bridge Detail 1:
Probably part of Pembroke House, 7 Whitehall Gardens
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Detail 2 Detail 2:
5 Whitehall Yard, demolished when Horse Guards Avenue was created
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Detail 3 Detail 3:
St Martin-in-the- Fields, where Constable and Maria Bicknell were married on 2 October 1816, eight months or so before the events depicted here
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Detail 4 Detail 4 (left):
Fife House, then home of the Prime Minister, Lord Liverpool

Detail 5 (below):
Garden of Grantham House Detail 5
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Detail 6 Detail 6:
The Prince Regent and his entourage on the quay of Whitehall Stairs, which gave access to the river from Whitehall
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Detail 7 Detail 7:
The royal barges
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Detail 8 Detail 8:
The Adelphi
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Detail 9 Detail 9:
Somerset House, then home of the Royal Academy, where Constable’s painting was first exhibited
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Detail 10 Detail 10:
St Paul’s Cathedral
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Detail 11 Detail 11:
Shot Tower (left) built about 1789 for the manufacture of lead shot

Shot Tower (right) built 1826 (and therefore making an anachronistic appearance here); adapted to serve as a lighthouse and radio beacon for the 1951 Festival of Britain, it was demolished for the building of the Queen Elizabeth Hall in the 1960s
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Detail 12 Detail 12:
The Lord Mayor’s barge, the Maria Wood