Circle of Jan Griffier (Amsterdam 1656-1718 London)The Great Fire of London from Cripplegate, showing the lead on the roof of Saint Paul's catching light on the night of 4 September 1666
oil on canvas
86.9 x 124.2cm (34 3/16 x 48 7/8in).注脚Provenance
Private Collection, Europe, until 2010


This view of Cripplegate in the north of the City, with Saint Giles without Cripplegate in flames to the left, is roughly the site of the present day Barbican. The painting probably represents the fire on the night of Tuesday 4 September, when four-fifths of the City was burning at once. Old Saint Paul's can be seen to the right of the canvas. At the time the building was covered in wooden scaffolding as it was in the midst of being restored by the then little known architect, Christopher Wren and caught fire. The particular moment on the Tuesday night when the lead on Saint Paul's caught fire was recorded by the diarist John Evelyn: 'the stones of Paul's flew like grenades, the melting lead running down the streets in a stream and the very pavements glowing with the firey redness, so as no horse, nor man, was able to tread on them.'