A View of Greenwich and the Queen's House from the South-East

Hendrick Danckerts, a Dutch Golden Age painter who settled in England during the Restoration, shows Greenwich as seen from the hill above the town. The view looks north-west over the old palace and the town towards the River Thames, with the City of London in the distance. The Queen's House sits in the middle of the scene, and to its right stands the new building designed by Christopher Wren, which later became part of Greenwich Hospital. The London skyline still bears the scars of the Great Fire of 1666, including the ruins of Old St Paul's Cathedral, which Wren would soon replace with a new one. The figures are thought to be Samuel Pepys and his wife, and a small self-portrait of the painter may be seen sketching. Pepys commissioned Danckerts to paint four views of royal residences, and this is one of them. Turner later tackled a similar panorama in 1809, updated to the Regency period.

Painter

Hendrick Danckerts

Date

1670

Medium

oil paint, canvas

Dimensions

86 × 121 cm

Museum

National Maritime Museum, Royal Borough of Greenwich

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