The meetings of parliaments and councils have been portrayed in art but usually with an unsatisfactory emphasis on multiple small portraits of their members. Of course many identifiable members of councils and parliaments have also been recorded in individual and group portraits.
A few historic parliamentary occasions have been reconstructed by artists after the event. Most notable, however, are the contemporary views of the dramatic destruction of the old Houses of Parliament by fire in 1834, followed by the war damage of 1941.
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The new and familiar Houses of Parliament feature in many topographical depictions of London and the Thames. Local government and institutional governing councils, their buildings and meeting rooms are also well recorded in topographical and architectural paintings.
Artworks
Alderman Alfred Leighton McCalmont, JPFrank McFadden (c.1856–1933)
Southampton City Art Gallery
H. J. Buchan, Mayor of Southampton (1871)Frank P. Burcher
Southampton City Art Gallery
Alderman John Steptoe (d.c.1667), Mayor of Southampton (1663) British School
Southampton City Art Gallery
Robert Chipperfield (1817–1911), JPLeonard Frank Skeats (1874–1943)
Southampton City Art Gallery
Robert Chipperfield (1817–1911), JPMary L. Seaward (active 1903–1915)
Southampton City Art Gallery
Alderman Mrs L. Foster Welch, JPFrank Brooks (1854–1937)
Southampton City Art Gallery
Alderman Frederick A. Dunsford, JPLeonard Frank Skeats (1874–1943)