The Adoration of the Magi, 1800-02 (tempera & gold leaf on paper)

St. Stephen's Chapel in the Palace of Westminster was reconstructed in 1800 to create extra space for new Members of Parliament arising from the Act of Union with Ireland. Richard Smirke was commissioned by the Society to record the wall paintings discovered in the upper chapel, which in the Middle Ages had been reserved for the royal family and clergy. Smirke's drawing shows the surviving remains uncovered on the left side of the high altar, which depict the Adoration of the Magi. The mural was probably executed between 1355 and 1363. All the wall paintings were obliterated by the building work, and almost all of the Palace of Westminster was destroyed by fire in 1834.