Christ Church, Newgate Street

John Piper's painting shows the east end of Christ Church, near St Paul's, after it had been gutted by incendiary bombs during the Second World War. It forms part of the group of paintings the artist produced of bomb-damaged churches in London.

Built by Sir Christopher Wren in 1677-1687, Christ Church was damaged during the night raid attacks on London which began on 29 December 1940. The raids devastated a great part of the historic city, including the majority of churches built by Wren.

Christ Church steeple was re-erected in 1960 but the church was never fully restored. The tower was refurbished as office space and the nave area turned into a rose garden with public seating. The east end wall, shown in Piper's painting, was demolished to allow direct access to the garden from the street.

During the Second World War, Piper was an official War Artist. Although primarily an architectural painter and printmaker, he also made set designs for theatre and opera, produced stained-glass windows and wrote art criticism. For the 1951 Festival of Britain, Piper supervised the design of Battersea Pleasure Gardens.