The Thames: The Strand Shore and Westminster Bridge

The Thames at the Strand Shore and Westminster Bridge records the riverfront between the City and Westminster that was one of Scott's most frequently painted subjects. The Strand shore, before the construction of the Victoria Embankment in the 1860s, sloped directly into the Thames, and Scott's views document this now-vanished relationship between London's streets and its river. 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 river view balances architectural detail on both banks with the animated surface of the Thames, its varied craft rendered with Scott's invariable nautical precision.