Queen Anne's visit to Greenwich

The present picture depicts the arrival of Queen Anne (1665-1714) at Greenwich in the Royal Yacht Peregrine which is flying the Royal Standard. The flagpole on the stern of the vessel on the left is flying the red ensign which dates the picture to post 1707. The Royal Observatory and Greenwich Hospital, with only one of Sir Christopher Wren's towers completed, are both visible in the background. In 1692 Queen Mary decided that the buildings originally begun by King Charles II should be completed to provide a Royal Naval Hospital for disabled seamen. Forty-two disabled men were admitted when Greenwich Hospital opened in 1705. In the next thirty years numbers increased to 1,000 with an eventual total of 3,000.

Jan Griffier, a Dutch painter of landscapes and topographical views, came to London soon after the Great Fire of 1666 and studied under the Jan Looten (1618-1681). He visited Holland circa 1695 and remained there for ten years before returning to London, where he died in 1718. Jan Griffier's son Robert Griffier (1688-c.1750) and his grandson Jan Griffier II (fl.1738-1773) continued the family tradition of landscape painting.