Leopold’s View of London

This is a view showing London before the Great Fire, from the South Bank of the Thames, including London Bridge and old St Paul’s. Principal buildings are numbered, corresponding to a key on banners carried by putti in the upper corners of the image, on either side of a central banderole.

It is not a view of London which would have been familiar to contemporary Londoners. Leopold was active in the first two decades of the 18th century, the figures in the foreground wear fashionable early 18th century dress and the text beneath describes the destruction caused by the Great Fire of 1666, but Leopold’s source for the London skyline was outdated.

Condition & Materials

Copper engraving, trimmed to image, 20 x 29.5 cm, text in Latin and German, original hand-colour, blank verso; traces of blue paper adhering to the verso, presumably where the print was pasted into an album.