''The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons, 16th October, 1834'' is the title of two oil on canvas paintings by J. M. W. Turner, depicting different views of the fire that broke out at the

Houses of Parliament The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north ban ...

on the evening of 16 October 1834. They are now in the Philadelphia Museum of Art and

Cleveland Museum of Art The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) is an art museum in Cleveland, Ohio, located in the Wade Park District, in the University Circle neighborhood on the city's east side. Internationally renowned for its substantial holdings of Asian and Egyptian ...

. Along with thousands of other spectators, Turner himself witnessed the Burning of Parliament from the south bank of the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

, opposite

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

. He made sketches using both pencil and watercolour in two sketchbooks from different vantage points, including from a rented boat, although it is unclear that the sketches were made instantly, ''

en plein air ''En plein air'' (; French for 'outdoors'), or ''plein air'' painting, is the act of painting outdoors. This method contrasts with studio painting or academic rules that might create a predetermined look. The theory of 'En plein air' painting ...

''. The sketchbooks were left by Turner to the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director ...

as part of the Turner Bequest and are now held by the

Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

. Some other sketches in Turner's sketchbooks, previously thought to also show the Burning of Parliament, have been reassessed and may be sketches of the fire that destroyed the Grand Storehouse at the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is sep ...

on 30 October 1841. It is not clear why Turner painted two oil versions of the same event. Financially, there was an opportunity for more engravings to be produced from his pictures. However, the two paintings portray very different aspects of the fire and Turner might have wished to explore multiple angles of the same event. The paintings were made in late 1834 or early 1835 and both measure by . Turner spent many hours reworking both paintings on the varnishing day immediately before the exhibition opened to the public. The first painting, exhibited at the British Institution in February 1835, shows the Houses of Parliament from the upstream side of

Westminster Bridge Westminster Bridge is a road-and-foot-traffic bridge over the River Thames in London, linking Westminster on the west side and Lambeth on the east side. The bridge is painted predominantly green, the same colour as the leather seats in the ...

. The buildings on the other side of the river are wreathed in golden flames. The fire is consuming the chamber of the House of Commons in

St Stephen's Hall The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north bank ...

, and illuminating the towers of

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the Unite ...

. The fire reflects dull red in the water, with a crowd of spectators in the foreground. To the right of the painting, Westminster Bridge looms like an iceberg, larger than life, but the perspective of the part of the bridge closest to the far bank is strongly distorted where it is lit up by the flames. Parts of the painting were likely inspired by a newspaper account that Turner read in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' the day after the fire. The painting was acquired by the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 1928 as part of the John Howard McFadden Collection. The second painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy's summer exhibition later in 1835. It shows a similar scene from further downstream, closer to

Waterloo Bridge Waterloo Bridge () is a road and foot traffic bridge crossing the River Thames in London, between Blackfriars Bridge and Hungerford Bridge and Golden Jubilee Bridges. Its name commemorates the victory of the British, Dutch and Prussians at t ...

, with the flames and smoke blown dramatically over the Thames as spectators on the river bank and in boats look on. These details all build up to a serious narrative about the failings of the firefighting system at this time. In the bottom right hand corner, we see fightfighting boats being slowly tugged towards the fire, which at this point is so big that their efforts are pointless. This painting was acquired by the

in 1942 as a bequest from John L. Severance (son of oil magnate

Louis Severance Louis Henry Severance (August 1, 1838 – June 25, 1913) was an American oilman and philanthropist who was a founding member of the Standard Oil Trust, the first treasurer of Standard Oil, (Charitable foundation established by Louis Severance ...

). The colours and composition of these paintings may have influenced Turner's conception of his 1839 painting ''

The Fighting Temeraire ''The Fighting Temeraire, tugged to her last berth to be broken up, 1838'' is an oil-on-canvas painting by the English artist Joseph Mallord William Turner Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 177519 December 1851), known in his time ...

'', which also depicts the passing of an old order.

References

* Philadelphia painting *
''The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons, October 16, 1834''
Philadelphia Museum of Art *
''The Burning of the House of Lords and Commons, 16th October 1834''
Tate Gallery * Cleveland painting *
''The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons, 16 October 1834''
Cleveland Museum of Art *
''The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons, October 16, 1834''
Tate Gallery
''Turner As Draughtsman''
Andrew Wilton, p. 2–4 and p. 145, notes 11 and 14
''J.M.W. Turner, 1775–1851: The World of Light and Colour''
Michael Bockemühl, p. 43–46
''The life of J.M.W. Turner''

George Walter Thornbury George Walter Thornbury (13 November 1828 – 11 June 1876) was an English author. He was the first biographer of J. M. W. Turner. Early life George Thornbury was born on 13 November 1828, the son of a London solicitor, reared by his aunt and e ...

, p. 166, 217
''Art in an Age of Counterrevolution, 1815–1848''
Albert Boime, p. 572
The imagination set ablaze: Tate Britain rehang In Focus III
Tate Etc. issue 28: Summer 2013, 20 August 2013 {{DEFAULTSORT:Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons, The 1835 paintings Paintings by J. M. W. Turner Paintings in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art Paintings in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art Water in art Bridges in art Palace of Westminster London in popular culture