View of the Monument from Gracechurch Street looking towards Fish Street Hill and old London Bridge, with St. Magnus Martyr beyond

The first Act of Parliament after the Great Fire of London in 1666 not only enabled the rebuilding of the city but also provided for the commemoration of the Fire by the erection of a Monument. The design of the Monument, entrusted to Sir Christopher Wren and his assistants, was for a 'Column or Pillar of Brase or Stone to be erected on or as neere unto the place where the said Fire so unhappily began'. Constructed of Portland stone between 1671 and 1677 the Monument is the tallest isolated stone column in the world.

An engraving of this subject produced by George Bickham, after Canaletto, was published by Robert Sayer and Henry Overton in 1752. The print was re-issued by Laurie and Whittle in 1794.