A Study of London Panoramas Made 400 Years Apart

How much would a 17th century Londoner recognize their home city if they visited it today? A new exhibition opening this weekend at London’s Guildhall Galleries asks just that, featuring views of London from 1616 and 2016 side by side. The answer is perhaps predictable—not a lot—but the journey there is fascinating.

The exhibition’s window into the subject is two remarkably detailed panoramic views of the city. The old panorama is by Dutch artist Claes Jansz Visscher, a famous 6.5-foot-long engraving of London, portrayed as if seen from the skies above the Thames’ south bank. A genuinely iconic view of the city created before most of London was destroyed by fire in 1666, this intricate view has scarcely been rivaled since. It is all the more impressive when you learn that Visscher never actually visited Britain.