Charing Cross and Northumberland House

Built between 1605 and 1609, Northumberland House, centre, was one of the principal monuments of Jacobean architecture in London. It stood on the south-east side of Charing Cross, between the Strand and Whitehall with a garden leading down to the river and was newly refashioned around 1750. It was destroyed in 1874 to make way for the formation of Northumberland Avenue. Formerly known as Suffolk House it was owned by the Earl (later Dukes) of Northumberland

Charing Cross was a notable shopping centre in the eighteenth century; among the shops depicted here are jewellers, instrument makers, hosiers, trunkmakers and saddlers. The bronze equestrian statue of Charles I in armour by Huburt le Sueur, seen on the left, was cast in 1633 for Lord Weston and later came into the possession of the Crown. It was set up at Charing Cross between 1675 and 1677 and remains in the same position today, facing down Whitehall. The Golden Cross Inn is shown on the left , a principal terminus for mail coaches.

The Museum has another version of the same view (30.70).
It is derived from Caneletto's Northumberland House, 1752/3 oil on canvas, in the collection of the Duke of Northumberland and a wash drawing at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Engraved in 1753 the view was painted many times( including these versions) and it became a key work for the development of the urban street scene in English topography.