Why did J.M.W. Turner paint The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons from a boat on the River Thames?

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J.M.W. Turner: The Fighting Temeraire Tugged to Her Last Berth to Be Broken Up, 1838 — J.M.W. Turner *The Fighting Temeraire Tugged to Her Last Berth to Be Broken Up, 1838*, oil on canvas by J.M.W. Turner, 1839; in the National Gallery, London.

J.M.W. Turner painted The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons after witnessing the 1834 fire firsthand from a boat on the River Thames.12

By observing the event from the water, Turner was able to experience the scene directly, allowing him to make rough sketches of the disaster as it unfolded. This firsthand perspective was essential to his artistic process, as he sought to capture the "Romantic sublime"—the combination of the terror of the fire and the radiant beauty of its light. Although he witnessed the event in person, he did not complete the large-scale painting until some months later, ultimately creating a work that pushed the boundaries of realistic depiction toward abstraction.12