This highly finished watercolour shows the northern elevation of the Royal Institution, designed by the architect William Henry Playfair. In this picture, Kemp presented the huge structure bathed in a golden light, as befits a temple to the arts. The new building sits comfortably against the backdrop of Edinburgh Castle, and displays Playfair's awareness of the compositional consequences of his designs. The Egyptian sphinxes on the roof above the portico were designed by John Steell, and installed in 1837. This watercolour dates from before 1844, when Steell's massive statue of Queen Victoria as Britannia was installed above the pediment of the front portico.