The Rhinebeck Panorama, c.1806-7. Panoramic View of London from a point above the present day Tower Bridge, looking west. This composite image combines all four separate sections of the Panorama. The panorama consists of four watercolour panels mounted and framed together to make an image almost nine feet, or just over two and a half metres, in length. What makes it particularly intriguing are all the people and incidents that are portrayed. This remarkable panorama of London was discovered lining a barrel of pistols in Rhinebeck, New York in 1941. It seems probable that Robert Havell Jr took the panorama to America in 1839. The panorama conveys, with astonishing topographical detail, the drama of daily life in the world city: a building on fire, a funeral procession, carriages and carts crossing London Bridge, soldiers on the march and a man flying a kite.
