Having done a post on Francis Bird, I thought the least I could do would be to inspect his work in situ.
Queen Anne still presides in front of all the tourists taking photographs of the west front, but she’s a copy dating from the 1880s by which time the original had been much vandalised:-
The sculpture in the tympanum is fine, but not especially visible. Bird was paid £650 ‘For carving the great Pedament of the West Portico’:-
Then I realised how much good quality decorative carving there is on the west and south fronts:-
I thought that I could see more of the sculpture close-up by climbing the dome. I paid my £18. All I got was a misty view of Tate Modern:-
| Charles | Saumarez | Smith | 
I beg to differ. You got a wonderful surreal photograph of Millennium Bridge! Was there any post-production involved?
All the best,
Jocelyn
None at all. It was just a misty November lunchtime. Charles
I, too, love this. Very Alvin Langdon Coburn!
Thank you for pointing me in the direction of his work. It’s because we’ve lost the aesthetic of the smog. Charles