The Palace of Westminster, London

The Palace of Westminster, London (1878) was painted during De Nittis's most productive English period, when he was regularly producing views of the Thames, London parks, and the city's monumental public architecture for an avid collecting audience. The Palace of Westminster — rebuilt in its Gothic Revival form by Charles Barry and Augustus Pugin after the fire of 1834 — was the most famous building in London and one of the most recognisable Gothic Revival structures in the world. De Nittis's view predated Monet's famous Westminster series by more than twenty years, placing him among the earliest Impressionist painters to address the subject. The Thames fog, variable light, and the palace's reflection in the river were challenges he met with atmospheric dissolution characteristic of his best London work.

De Nittis captures the Gothic silhouette of the palace against the Thames atmosphere — towers and pinnacles dissolving into river mist or registering against a pale London sky. The Thames reflection is rendered through horizontal broken strokes fracturing the architectural forms.