The Thames with Westminster Bridge

The Thames with Westminster Bridge provides another of Scott's many views of the new bridge that fascinated him for over two decades. Labelye's fifteen-arch structure was both an engineering marvel and an aesthetic transformation of the London riverside, and Scott's multiple depictions from different angles and times of day constitute the most thorough artistic documentation of any single Georgian building project. Scott's repeated depictions of Westminster Bridge make him its most important pictorial chronicler, documenting the bridge from its foundation in 1738 through its completion in 1750 and its subsequent establishment as one of London's defining landmarks.

The panoramic format accommodates the bridge's full span across the Thames, with the architectural rendering balanced by the animated river surface and its characteristic traffic of barges, wherries, and sailing vessels.