The Rhinebeck Panorama 1805 -1810
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The Rhinebeck Panorama will be closed from 4 June 2007 due to the construction of London, Sugar and Slavery. You will be able to see the Rhinebeck Panorama from autumn 2009 at the Museum of London.
Find out more about London, Sugar and Slavery
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About the Rhinebeck Panorama 1805 -1810
The semi circular Rhinebeck Panorama provides a birds eye view of the metropolis. The original 2.5 metre long watercolour was painted in four sections, between 1806 and 1811. The panorama it depicts is the Upper pool of London at around 1800.
It was the work of three artists. One provided the main features. The second drew the vessels and the third heightened the church towers and steeples. The picture was found in the loft of a house in the town of Rhinebeck, New York State, USA in 1941. It was acquired by the Museum of London in 1998.
A cluster of clapboard and brick warehousing north and south of the river is punctuated by the Tower; Billingsgate Fish Market; Hay's Wharf and, linking Borough with the City, Old London Bridge, shorn of its buildings. A great wealth of craft can be seen afloat: Livery Barges; hoys; wherries; smacks; sailing barges - even a fire fighting vessel. Away from the river, and in the distance, stretches the London skyline of imposing stone church spires.