Greenwich Hospital, 1876

Titled, signed and dated by the artist, 'Greenwich Hospital/ TB Hardy 1876'. The very low viewpoint suggests this is from a boat in the river roughly north of Greenwich Pier looking south and east. Thames barges and the Royal Naval College training ship are positioned to the left of the Queen Anne Court, with two men working on a raft of floating timber in midstream and a buoy in the left foreground. There is a rowing boat towards the centre where the Hospital watergate is shown but without the waterstairs or railings along the riverfront. On centre right is a ketch-rigged Thames hay barge in port-bow view, with another and a brig both astern of her, heading downstream. Conditions are calm.

The foreshore is shown as shadowed and there are fine sky and water effects but the architectural detailing is rough and hesitant. The King William and Queen Anne domes are not visible at all, which while technically possible from the low position, gives the whole an uncomfortably unfamiliar effect. The date and hesitancy suggest relatively early work, or something done in the studio without adequate sketch material or conviction for the shoreward elements.

Object Details

ID: PAG9861
Collection: Fine art
Type: Drawing
Display location: Not on display
Creator: Hardy, Thomas Bush
Places: Unlinked place
Date made: 1876
Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London. Caird Fund.
Measurements: Sheet: 351 x 500 mm; Mount: 482 mm x 634 mm