Waterloo Bridge from the left bank of the Thames

In this painting, Constable shows the recently opened Waterloo Bridge with the teeming life of the River Thames in London. St Paul's Cathedral is silhouetted against the low horizon.

Waterloo Bridge was named after Waterloo in Belgium, where the allied army under the command of the Duke of Wellington defeated the French army led by Napoleon on 18 June 1815. The bridge was finished in 1817 and was opened with a great ceremony, which Constable probably saw.

The year before making this work, Constable began sketching the Thames around this area – possibly making studies for what would become his grand painting ‘The Opening of Waterloo Bridge’, which depicted the opening ceremony with decorated barges filling the river. The finished painting was shown at the RA in 1832.