The Great Exhibition of 1851

I found this painting of the Great Exhibition in a book that I own. The Great Exhibition was organised by Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria "to give a true test and a living picture of the point of development at which the whole of mankind has arrived...and a new starting point from which all nations will be able to direct their further exertions." It was housed in the Crystal Palace which enclosed 19 acres of Hyde Park! There was an objection to felling the stately elms that stood in this area, so the designer, Paxton, added a great vaulted transept that would house the elms, some of which you can see in this picture. Paxton was the former head gardener of the Duke of Devonshire, but had made his way up in the world. He based the design on a greenhouse that he had designed for the Duke - he simply scaled it up, then engineers worked out the practicalities of making it safe. After the exhibition, the building was rebuilt in a larger form on Penge Common next to Sydenham Hill, an affluent South London suburb full of large villas. It stood here from 1854 until its destruction by fire in 1936. What a pity it can't still be seen today!