In Smithfield, entrance of St. Bartholomew’s Hospital on the left. The fair is in progress: there are booths, swings, etc., and many figures. St. Sepulchre’s Church-tower in the distance.
In the same frame is an etching of the subject by Rowlandson, to which colour has been crudely added.
By T. Rowlandson, 1807 (1756-1827). Lent by Sir E. Coates.
Wash drawing in sepia. 12¼ by 8¼ in.
The Savoy near the Strand was a house or palace built in 1245 by Peter, Earl of Savoy and Richmond, uncle of Eleanor, wife to Henry III. John, King of France, was imprisoned there after the battle of Poictiers. When in the hands of John of Gaunt it was burnt by Wat Tyler and his followers. After this it appears to have been neglected, till in 1505 Henry VII endowed it as a Hospital of St. John Baptist for the relief of poor people. Suppressed in 1553, and re-endowed by Queen Mary Tudor, seventeenth century plans show an important river frontage. It was maintained as a hospital until 1702, but Strype in 1720 describes it as being partly a prison; in another portion was “the King’s printing press for proclamations,” etc. After gradual decay the last remains of the building were destroyed in the earlier years of the nineteenth century.
The arches in mid-distance most likely belong to Blackfriars Bridge. Waterloo Bridge, first called Strand Bridge, was begun in 1811.
We may call to mind that the gifted artist who drew this, and died at the age of twenty-seven, was born in the same year as W. M. Turner, whose well-known saying, “if Tom Girtin had lived I should have starved,” is a fine tribute to his genius.
By T. Girtin (1775-1802). Lent by Mr. T. Girtin.