Old London in Paintings and Photographs
Whitehall from Trafalgar Square; 1839; Daguerreotype by M de St Croix
This image is, for me, especially interesting. It is one of the earliest daguerreotype photographs of England, taken when Frenchman M de St Croix was in London demonstrating Louis Daguerre’s pioneering photographic process during September and December 1839. The statue in the foreground is Le Sueur’s statue of Charles I on horseback which stands at the top of Whitehall on the south edge of Trafalgar Square — on the spot what was originally occupied by the original Charing Cross in memory of Queen Eleanor. And it is from this spot, called Charing Cross, that all distances are traditionally measured. I the dim distance is Inigo Jones’ Banqueting House; practically everything else shown in the image has subsequently disappeared. Like all daguerreotypes the original image was reversed, but is shown here in the correct orientation, as we would view the scene today.
Image © National Media Museum