This lovely painting of St. Anne's Sqaure in Manchester masks the filth and horror the majority of people living in Manchester dealt with on a daily basis. "If any one wishes to see in how little space a human being can move, how little air -- and such air! -- he can breathe, how little of civilisation he may share and yet live, it is only necessary to travel hither." Manchester in the Victorian Era was slimy, smelly, and nearly uninhabitable- despite how many people lived there. Manchester's filth is a perfect reflection of the impact the Industrial Revolution had on the lower, working class versus the upper class and nobles that did nothing but reap the benefits of industrialization. Though it doesn't show the griminess that apparently littered the streets, this painting does depict the ever-present smog of the factories, a constant reminder, even for the romantic viewer of this era, of the devastating effects of a quickly changing world.
Sources:
"St. Anne's Square, Manchester." http://www.victorianweb.org/painting/grimshaw/paintings/5.html
Bloy, Marjie "Manchester in 1844- a contemporary view." http://www.victorianweb.org/places/cities/manchester/2.html