Led by Christine Riding, editor of The Houses of Parliament: History, Art and Architecture

Monday 18 April 2005, 09.30–13.00

SOLD OUT

In 1834 the old Houses of Parliament were destroyed by fire, an event of apocalyptic proportions that attracted thousands of onlookers and that was commemorated in paint by JMW Turner. Ten years later, work had begun on a new building, designed in the controversial but pre-eminently romantic medieval style, by architects Charles Barry and Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin. The imposing exterior inspired many artists including James Abbott McNeill Whistler and Claude Monet, while the interiors exemplified the splendour of the Victorian Gothic revival.

This event begins with a lecture on the history of the building and is followed by a tour of the public areas of the Palace of Westminster, led by Malcolm Hay, Simon Carter and Melanie Unwin.

Tate Britain  Manton Studio
£16 (£12 concessions), booking recommended
Participants must walk from Tate Britain to the Houses of Parliament

This event is related to the Turner Whistler Monet exhibition