Spectator, May 1835

Turner 's wonderful picture of the 'Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons' taken from the opposite bank of the river, throws into shade 'The Lute Player' by Etty - a group of fair damsels at a window... The brilliancy of Turner's picture is not owing to the more fiery hue: if there be any doubt of this, a glance at Chalon's picture of the same scene, taken from Parliament Street (273) will suffice. There is fire enough, but the pictures about suffer nothing; the colouring is muddy and opaque. Turner's picture transcends it neighbours as the sun eclipses the moon and stars. The burst of light in the body of the flame, and the flood of fiery radiance that forms a luminous atmosphere around all the picture is curious: to look at it close, it appears a confused mass of daubs and streaks of colour; yet we are told the painter worked at it contained by a few inches of the canvas for hours together, without stepping back to see the effect. Turner seems to paint slovenlily - daubing, as one would say; yet what other painter preserves equal clearness of colour? Not that we like this scene-painting manner; we should prefer being able to look at a picture near as well as at a distance; but such a one as this we are content to look at in any way the artist chooses - with all its faults. ( Finberg, The Life of J. M. W. Turner, p. 352)

CW