The Great Fire of London

This painting was a gift from Sir Henry Englefield FSA (1752-1822) in 1799. Documenting the Great Fire of London in 1666, the scene is unusually taken from an elevated vantage point of Essex Stairs. The painting represented the fire after it had spread to St Paul’s Cathedral and just beyond, corresponding to the description given by John Evelyn (1620-1706) in his diary for September 4th, 1666. A similar version of this painting was attributed to “Waggoner” in 1723 and hung in Painter-Stainers’ Hall. Unfortunately this was destroyed in the Blitz – only engravings of the Painter Stainers’  Great Fire of London painting survive. It is unknown which of these two paintings may have been the prime version, or if both are copies of a lost original.

Conservation work on our painting in 2013 revealed the painting depicting two rather different scenes on top of one another: the sky had been repainted from day to night, and the sun replaced with the moon. The river had been repainted to the right of the sailing boats, the left foreground sailing boat radically altered, London Bridge obliterated and an addition made to the Tower of London. The figures too had been altered by overpainting – two were turned into women, and others were given different costume.

It is possible that the Romantic Movement’s new interest in moonlight prompted this wholesale revisioning. It may have been carried out during the late 18th-century before the painting was acquired by Sir Henry Englefield, or even during the 19th-century when it came into the possession of the Society. This may have been due to extensive deterioration from hanging above a fireplace, though any such treatment by the Society is unrecorded.

Find out more about this painting in our Unlocking Our Collections video below.

See what conservation on the painting in 2013 revealed…