(Above) Modern Liverpool 1907 by Walter Richards © National Museums Liverpool

Merseyside Maritime Museum has acquired a stunning aerial view oil painting showing the Liverpool waterfront at the height of the city’s prosperity 100 years ago.

Capturing the bustling atmosphere of the port when it was the Second City of the British Empire and celebrating its 700th anniversary, Modern Liverpool 1907 by Walter Richards shows existing buildings and some that were only planned when the painting was done.

A Cunard liner moored at the docks © National Museums Liverpool

One of them, the famous Liver Building, is depicted although it was not completed until 1911, other buildings include the Lutyens designed but never completed Anglican Cathedral - replete with twin towers.

“This remarkable panorama is an important addition to our collection of Liverpool waterfront views dating from 1680 to the 1960s,” said Tony Tibbles, director of Merseyside Maritime Museum.

“Here ships, streets and buildings are painted in painstaking detail. The artist has caught the smoky atmosphere of Edwardian Liverpool with its thousands of chimneys. This painting gives a fascinating insight into the city at the height of its powers. It is so realistic you can almost hear the ships’ hooters and the cries of the seagulls.”

The White Star and Liver Buildings © National Museums Liverpool

Details include a Cunard liner, which could either be the Mauretania or her ill-fated sister ship Lusitania, moored at the Princes Stage. Other details include women carrying parasols, trams coming to and fro from Pier Head and the original clock of the White Star Line Office.

The painting, which measures about 1.8m by 60cm (6 ft by 2 ft) was last on public show during the Autumn Exhibition at the Walker Art Gallery in 1907 and will be on display again in the Art and Sea Gallery at Merseyside Maritime Museum from September 3.