Destruction at Holborn Viaduct - City Temple and St. Andrew's, Holborn by Gladys Baker, oil on canvas board

This ruin scene by the landscape painter Gladys Baker represents bomb damage to City Temple and St Andrew Holborn church during the London Blitz of 1941.

Baker’s painting might represent damage suffered on the night of 16 – 17 April 1941, a raid in which fire from incendiary bombs gutted the interior of City Temple. Alternatively, the painting might represent the aftermath of the night of 7 – 8 May 1941 when Sir Christopher Wren’s St Andrew Holborn suffered similar damage, leaving only its exterior walls and tower intact. Both buildings were rebuilt to their original designs - the latter ‘stone by stone' - reopening in 1958 and 1961 respectively. Copyright: the artist's estate / RAF Museum.