The River Thames with St. Paul’s Cathedral on Lord Mayor’s Day

Another big painting by Canaletto on display, this shows a different spot of the Thames. According to Wikipedia, “Lord Mayor’s Day” started as a ceremony to formally present the Mayor of London to the King, but then it evolved into a general parade and revelry sort of thing.

You can just about see London Bridge in the distance on the right. If you painted this picture today you’d have to add a couple more bridges, but at that time the city only had London Bridge and Westminster Bridge. Not such a big deal, Londoners who needed to cross used any number of ferries and boats.