Artwork Information

Hollar’s etching was published in William Dugdale’s

The History of St Paul’s Cathedral in London (1658). The

print records the peculiar appearance of the cathedral

following the partial remodelling by Inigo Jones that

began in the 1630s. Jones’ classicising skin on the body

of the Norman and Gothic building did little to mask the

mediaeval structure.

During the Great Fire of 1666, many London booksellers

and print dealers moved their stock to the crypt

(basement) of the cathedral, expecting it to remain

unharmed. But when the fire-ravaged roof of the

cathedral fell in, the crypt collapsed and the stock kept there was destroyed – including work by Hollar.

Following its destruction in 1666, Christopher Wren

designed the monumental domed cathedral that, like

its predecessor, features so prominently on the London

skyline today.