19 September 2012, PRAGUE – Antonio Canaletto’s masterpiece London: The Thames on Lord Mayor’s Day has returned to The Lobkowicz Palace following its universally applauded appearance in London, where it formed the centerpiece of the National Maritime Museum’s exhibition Royal River: Power, Pageantry and the Thames (27 April – 9 September) and served as the inspiration for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant (3 June).
Organized in celebration of the 60th year of Queen Elizabeth’s reign and the 75th anniversary of the National Maritime Museum, Royal River explored the relationship between British monarchs, London and the citizenry through the lens of the Thames, which throughout the city’s history brought all three together during the displays of royal power, patronage and pageantry staged on the historic waterway. The participation of London: The Thames on Lord Mayor’s Day in Royal River marked the first time the picture had returned to England since it was painted there more than 260 years ago.
During its time in the United Kingdom, the painting was not only seen by tens of thousands of people at the National Maritime Museum, it also served as inspiration for one of the modern era’s most impressive water events—Queen Elizabeth’s seven-mile, one thousand boat Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant, which was watched by an estimated global television audience of two billion people.
London: The Thames on Lord Mayor’s Day is once again on display in its home at The Lobkowicz Palace in Prague Castle.
About “London: The Thames on Lord Mayor’s Day”
London: The Thames on Lord Mayor’s Day was brought into The Lobkowicz Collections by Ferdinand Philip, 6th Prince Lobkowicz (1724-1784), who acquired it after an introduction to Canaletto in London, where the Prince had traveled to buy horses. The painting, along with a second slightly earlier Canaletto of the same size and also featuring the Thames, was sent to the 6th Prince’s home in Bohemia, where it hung for centuries in the Lobkowicz ducal residence of Roudnice Castle.
Since its restitution at the beginning of the 1990s, the painting has been accessible to the public as part of the permanent collections at Nelahozeves Castle and, since 2007, at The Lobkowicz Palace in Prague Castle.
About The Lobkowicz Collections
The Lobkowicz Collections are the oldest, largest and finest privately owned art holdings in the Czech Republic and among the most important in Central Europe. Formed during more than six centuries of art patronage by one of Bohemia’s most influential noble families, The Collections number tens of thousands of moveable objects, once again owned and cared for by the Lobkowicz family. They are open to the public year-round and displayed at The Lobkowicz Palace in Prague Castle and at Nelahozeves Castle in the village of Nelahozeves, which is located approximately 35 km north of Prague and is renowned as the birthplace of the great Czech composer Antonín Dvořák.
Useful Links
The Lobkowicz Collections and The Lobkowicz Palace
National Maritime Museum (London)
