The Building of Westminster Bridge

Samuel Scott's early seascapes are indebted in style and subject matter to the Dutch painter Willem van de Velde the Younger (1633–1707). He turned to topographical views along the Thames in the 1740s, and his later works show the influence of Canaletto, who arrived in England in 1746.

London's Westminster Bridge, one of the most important engineering enterprises of the Georgian era, was built by the Swiss engineer Charles Labelye between 1739 and 1750. The bridge was constructed from the center outward, as recorded in Scott's painting. Curiously, Westminster Abbey appears in the background with the nave incorrectly angled with respect to the crossing and the tower incorrectly angled with respect to the nave, topographical anomalies that were carried over from a watercolor of 1742 (Southwark Art Collection, London).

The barge at the center is that used by the lord mayor of London; however, the picture does not show his annual visit to Westminster Hall but rather a less formal occasion, probably a trial run, which was called for because the currents on the approach to the landing stage were treacherous (Kingzett 1982).

The painting had as a pendant a view of Old London Bridge signed and dated 1747 (private collection, London); the two works were separated in 1914. Scott painted a second, larger pair of pendants for Sir Robert Littleton in 1749 (Governor and Company of the Bank of England; each 32 x 59 in.).

[2010; adapted from Baetjer 2009]

Inscription: Signed (lower right): S. Scott

?William John Kerr, 5th Marquess of Lothian (until d. 1815); Field Marshall Sir William Maynard Gomm (until d. 1875); Gomm collection (1875–1914; sale, Christie's, London, March 6, 1914, no. 26, for £346.10.0 to Agnew); [Agnew, London, 1914–15; sold to Morgan]; J. P. Morgan, New York (1915–d. 1943; his estate, 1943–44; sold through Knoedler to The Met)

Dayton Art Institute. "The City by the River and the Sea: Five Centuries of Skylines," April 18–June 3, 1951, no. ?

Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery. "Canaletto & England," October 14, 1993–January 9, 1994, no. 44.

Josephine L. Allen and Elizabeth E. Gardner. A Concise Catalogue of the European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1954, p. 90.

R. J. B. Walker. Letter to R. E. A. Friedman. September 30, 1970, points out that Scott represents the bridge as it appeared about May 1742 and that, given the presence of what seems to be the Ironmongers' Company's arms on the barge, it may have been painted to commemorate Sir Robert Godschall of that company, who was sworn in as Lord Mayor on October 29, 1741, and died in June 1742; mentions later versions dated 1749 and 1750, noting that there are at least six.

Harley Preston. London and The Thames: Paintings of Three Centuries. Exh. cat., Somerset House. London, 1977, unpaginated, under no. 24, mentions the picture as a version of Scott's 1749 "The Building of Westminster Bridge" (Bank of England), which shows Labelye's bridge with four arches and Hawksmore's Westminster Abbey with one tower, leading Kenneth Sharpe and Richard Kingzett to date the setting about May 1742.

Richard Kingzett. Extract from his unpublished manuscript. June 1978, suggests that the event depicted was the rehearsal for the swearing in—on October 29, 1749—of Samuel Pennant, Alderman of the Ironmongers' Company, and refers to a drawing of the building of Westminster Bridge which was included in Scott's studio sale of 1773.

R[ichard] J[ohn] B[oileau] Walker. Old Westminster Bridge, The Bridge of Fools. Newton Abbot, 1979, pp. 231, 243 n. 13, notes that several paintings show Westminster Bridge as it appeared in the spring or summer of 1742, when the two middle arches had been turned, the timber center for another was in position, and a fourth was under construction; records the date of the completion certificate for the fourth center as 30 June 1742.

Richard Kingzett. "A Catalogue of the Works of Samuel Scott." Walpole Society 48 (1982), pp. 44, 56, pl. 21a, identifies the pendant as "Old London Bridge," signed and dated 1747, belonging to the Viscount Bearsted by descent, and assigns both pictures to that year.

Francis Russell in The Treasures Houses of Britain. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1985, p. 239.

Michael Liversidge in Canaletto & England. Exh. cat., Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery. London, 1993, pp. 111, 119, no. 44, ill. (color).

Katharine Baetjer. European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art by Artists Born Before 1865: A Summary Catalogue. New York, 1995, p. 184, ill.

Katharine Baetjer. British Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1575–1875. New York, 2009, pp. 48–50, no. 21, ill. (color).