Landscapes Of London: 400 Years Apart

Tom Hedley introduces two depictions of London with four centuries under the bridge between them.

Sketch artist Robin Reynolds recently unveiled his panoramic drawing of the London skyline, inspired by the historically significant depiction of old London town by Claes Jansz Visscher in 1616.

Half a century after Visscher completed his work, in September 1666 London fell victim to the Great Fire. Flames roared through the city destroying everything in its path. At least 65,000 people were made homeless; and mid-seventeenth century London would have become largely invisible, if not for the Visscher drawings.

After the Great Fire, King Charles II appointed several commissioners, including Sir Christopher Wren, to rebuild the city. With Wren’s masterpiece – St Paul’s Cathedral – at its centre, London’s architecture has been rising upwards ever since; a movement captured by Visscher’s modern day counterpart, Robin Reynolds.

Six-and-a-half feet tall, Reynolds’ rendition of London today took two years and thousands of pencils to complete.

A masterpiece in its own right, Visscher Redrawn by Robin Reynolds is available for viewing at London’s Guildhall art gallery until 20 November.


Images by Claes Jansz Visscher and Robin Reynolds

Then and now: when London Bridge was just a bridge; now shadowed by the Gherkin and 20 Fenchurch Street, aka the ‘Walkie-Talkie’.


Images by Claes Jansz Visscher and Robin Reynolds


Images by Claes Jansz Visscher and Robin Reynolds

Then and now: London’s ships have taken a turn, and Wren’s St Paul’s is barely visible beneath the towering concrete.


Images by Claes Jansz Visscher and Robin Reynolds


Images by Claes Jansz Visscher and Robin Reynolds

Then and now: what’s left of the city is subject to cranes, tourists and taxis.


Images by Claes Jansz Visscher and Robin Reynolds


Images by Claes Jansz Visscher and Robin Reynolds

Then and now: a city shrouded in fog and fumes as the BT Tower connects us all.


Images by Claes Jansz Visscher and Robin Reynolds

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