Came across this picture of St Paul’s by Canaletto, with boats, done in the 1740s:
I tried to find a bigger version. I failed, but did encounter this, from the Daily Express of June 4th 2012:
WITH its spectacular pomp and ceremony, yesterday’s river pageant evoked the alluring images in Canaletto’s painting The Thames on Lord Mayor’s Day which depicted a royal flotilla against a backdrop of the City and St Paul’s Cathedral more than 250 years ago.
That “backdrop” is not what it was. St Paul’s is still St Paul’s, but what’s in front of it has taken rather a turn for the worse.
I’ve surely photoed photos of that scene, although not with that many boats. I recall getting interested in the Faraday Building, the one with the green roof in the photo above, which was the first big architectural violation of that St Paul’s view.
In the Canaletto, notice all the spires there, of other places of worship, most of them also designed by Wren.