Location

Country: France
City: Strasbourg
Place: UK Delegation to Council of Europe

Robertson’s view of London from Camberwell demonstrates just how rural the outskirts of the capital were in the later 18th century. Camberwell, now a built-up area only just outside the centre of London, was then a village situated amid fields and was known for its flowers and fruit trees. We can recognise Westminster Abbey and St Paul’s Cathedral, which, apart from the sheer size of the urban sprawl, are the main means of identifying the distant city as London.

Daniel Lerpinière was born to a French family, living in England. He trained as a pupil of French landscape engraver François Vivares (1709-1782), who had established a successful business in London and was a central figure in the formation of an English school of landscape engraving. Lerpinière was an etcher and engraver, not only of landscapes, but also of religious and sporting subjects. He produced engravings after contemporary artists, as well as after the work of Old Master painters.

Places

England, London, Denmark Hill, Camberwell, Westminster

Subjects

carriage, horseback, topography, landscape C18th, townscape/cityscape, tree, dog, hill, man, woman, 18th century costume, dress, road, house, abbey, church, cathedral, spire, tower

Materials & Techniques

engraving, coloured engraving

Artist

George Robertson (1742 - 1788)
Daniel Lerpinière

Title

A South View of the Cities of London and Westminster, taken from Denmark Hall near Camberwell

Date

published 1 May 1779

Medium

Coloured engraving

Acquisition

Purchased from Frank T Sabin, October 1957

GAC number

3916