The First Reformed House of Commons, 1833 (sketch)

This sketch for Hayter’s most ambitious work—the panoramic painting of the first Reformed House of Commons in session in 1833—shows the vast composition in its planning stage. The finished painting, measuring over twelve feet wide, included portraits of nearly four hundred individuals. Hayter worked on the project throughout the 1830s, individually sketching each MP before assembling the final group portrait. The Parliamentary Art Collection holds both this sketch and many of the preparatory studies.

The compositional sketch maps out the architectural setting of St. Stephen’s Chapel and the massed figures of MPs, establishing the spatial relationships that would govern the final painting. Individual faces are only summarily indicated.