View on the Thames with Westminster Bridge
Samuel Scott·1743
Historical Context
View on the Thames with Westminster Bridge, painted in 1743, captures the bridge during its construction, seven years before its completion in 1750. Scott was documenting the building process from the very beginning, and this early view shows the partially completed structure alongside the scaffolding, coffer dams, and construction equipment that fascinated both the artist and the London public. 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.
Technical Analysis
The unfinished bridge provides a unique subject, with completed arches standing alongside construction works that Scott renders with the same topographical precision he would later bring to the finished structure.
