Artwork of the Month - December 2015
28 January 2015
December's artwork of the month is an 18th century coloured line engraving of Westminster Abbey, dated 1734, by Thomas Bowles.
Westminster Abbey was consecrated in 1065, and the anniversary of the consecration falls on 28 December, and will mark 950 years since the construction of the Abbey.
Westminster Abbey was constructed in the eleventh century by Edward the Confessor, the one English King to also be a saint.
The Abbey was a reconstruction of an older, smaller abbey that had been on the site, dedicated to Saint Peter. Edward's new church (name West Minster, to distinguish it from the East Minster – also known as St Paul's Cathedral) was built in the new and cutting-edge Romanesque style.
Further information
Image: Parliamentary copyright