Old St. Paul's from the River

Michel van Overbeek's drawing shows the view towards Blackfriars and the City, with old St Paul's Cathedral dominating the half-timbered buildings clustered round it.

Much of the cathedral's massive lantern tower is under scaffolding. The tower had previously been topped with a spire, but this was destroyed by fire in 1561. By the late 17th century the tower was in poor condition (as were other parts of the building) and there was some debate about whether to replace it with a cupola. A report of the time proposes 'That ye steeple in ye Ist place be scaffolded ... for ye taking it down'. The scaffolding was erected in 1663 and remained in place until 1666, when the Great Fire engulfed the building, rendering the tower-versus-cupola argument redundant.

Apart from a couple of skiffs, the river is surprisingly empty. On the left of the image, several landing stages - some apparently of stone, others of wood - project from the riverbank.

The little known Dutch artist Michel van Overbeek made a number of drawings in England around this time, including one showing St Paul's without scaffolding which is now in the Louvre, Paris.