Building Westminster Bridge (1744)
Westminster Bridge was constructed between 1738 and 1750. Richard Wilson's view of the bridge under construction can be dated to around September 1744.
It was at this time that the timber framework supporting the arch immediately to the left of the central span was dismantled - an operation clearly visible in Wilson's picture. The painting also shows the first stages of construction of the two arches to the right of the central arch, work which had begun that summer. The balustrade surmounting the central arch, although visible in Wilson's picture, was not completed until the summer of 1745, suggesting that the artist had access to detailed plans or even the designer's model for the bridge. Wilson's view is taken from the Westminster side of the river, from Parliament Stairs, looking east towards the city of London and the dome of St Paul's cathedral, visible on the horizon between the incomplete section of the bridge and the Lambeth shore.
