Visscher Redrawn 1616-2016

Excellent display at the Guildhall Art Gallery showing Claes Jansz Visscher's panorama of the River Thames alongside a newly commissioned version of modern London by Robin Reynolds.

It is fascinating to compare the two images and see how the city has changed. The first thing which strikes you is how many more bridges there in the new version and I suppose as a consequence, how much more river traffic there is in the older picture. The new version is very up to date as includes the new Tate Extension.

As the original was published in the year of the Shakespeare’s death the new version includes cryptic references to the plays. At first you just think they are small figures doing strange things but once you realise the link it’s a fun game to try to spot the plays.

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