The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons, 16 October 1834
Dublin Core
Title
The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons, 16 October 1834
Subject
Romanticism, landscape painting, art, Palace of Westminister
Description
Terrific description from The Cleveland Museum of Art (seriously amazing website; see source):
"Fire consumed London’s famous Houses of Parliament on the night of October 16, 1834, and people gathered along the banks of the river Thames to gaze in awe at the horrifying spectacle. Initially, a low tide made it difficult to pump water to land and hampered steamers towing firefighting equipment along the river. The blaze burned uncontrollably for hours.
J. M. W. Turner records the struggle as the boats in the lower-right corner head toward the flames. Although Turner based the painting on an actual event, he magnified the height of the flames, using the disaster as the starting point to express man’s helplessness when confronted with the destructive powers of nature. Brilliant swathes of color and variable atmospheric effects border on abstraction."
"Fire consumed London’s famous Houses of Parliament on the night of October 16, 1834, and people gathered along the banks of the river Thames to gaze in awe at the horrifying spectacle. Initially, a low tide made it difficult to pump water to land and hampered steamers towing firefighting equipment along the river. The blaze burned uncontrollably for hours.
J. M. W. Turner records the struggle as the boats in the lower-right corner head toward the flames. Although Turner based the painting on an actual event, he magnified the height of the flames, using the disaster as the starting point to express man’s helplessness when confronted with the destructive powers of nature. Brilliant swathes of color and variable atmospheric effects border on abstraction."
Creator
Joseph Mallord William Turner (British, 1775-1851)
Source
Owned by the Cleveland Museum of Art:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1942.647
Display:
Not on display
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1942.647
Display:
Not on display
Publisher
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Date
1835
Contributor
Ben Richardson
Rights
Open Access
Relation
Palace of Westminister (1835-1941):
https://enlightenmens.lmc.gatech.edu/items/show/id/989
The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons:
https://enlightenmens.lmc.gatech.edu/items/show/id/988
https://enlightenmens.lmc.gatech.edu/items/show/id/989
The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons:
https://enlightenmens.lmc.gatech.edu/items/show/id/988
Format
Oil on canvas
Framed: 123.5 x 153.5 x 12 cm (48 5/8 x 60 7/16 x 4 3/4 in.);
Unframed: 92 x 123.2 cm (36 1/4 x 48 1/2 in.)
Framed: 123.5 x 153.5 x 12 cm (48 5/8 x 60 7/16 x 4 3/4 in.);
Unframed: 92 x 123.2 cm (36 1/4 x 48 1/2 in.)
Type
Painting
Files
Citation
Joseph Mallord William Turner (British, 1775-1851), “The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons, 16 October 1834,” Enlightenmens, accessed February 7, 2023, http://enlightenmens.lmc.gatech.edu/items/show/987.