The Ruined House of Commons

Piper was an official War Artist and painted this picture at the same time as an oil painting (now in the Houses of Parliament), also showing the bombed out shell of the Council Chamber, after its destruction on 1 May 1941. Piper had always been interested in the picturesque textures of decaying architecture. From this tragic scene of devastation he made an evocative symbol of the destruction of the heart of Britain.