John Sanders, The Girls’ Dining Room of the Foundling Hospital, 1773 © The William Salt Library

This watercolour depicts the girls' dining room in the Foundling Hospital. The room is adorned with large-scale paintings by some of the most celebrated eighteenth-century paintings, including the Hosital's founder Thomas Coram. Seen in the background is a group of visitors. Due to its growing art collection the Hospital became England's first public art gallery and established itself as a 'destination venue' for fashionable Londoners.