Joseph M. W. Turner: The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons (1834-35)

 

(Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, USA)

A painting by the English artist Joseph William Turner (1775 – 1851). This painting shows the fire that broke out at the Houses of Parliament in London on the evening of 16 October 1834. The building was originally named the Palace of Westminster, a medieval royal palace used as the home of the British parliament. The building was largely destroyed by fire which was caused by the burning of small wooden tally sticks which had been used as part of the accounting procedures. The sticks were disposed of carelessly in the two furnaces under the House of Lords, which caused a chimney fire in the two flues that ran under the floor of the Lords' chamber and up through the walls. Turner himself witnessed the Burning of Parliament from the south bank of the River Thames, opposite Westminster and made several sketches. The painting shows the fire with Westminster Bridge on the right. Turner made another painting of the Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons, but further downstream, closer to Waterloo Bridge. The current parliament building in London ("Palace of Westminster") was constructed in 1847-1870. Painting from 1834-1835.