About the artist
David Roberts RA (1796 - 1864) was a Scottish painter. Born into a shoemaker's family, he apprenticed as a house-painter. He later designed and painted stage scenery for the theater in Edinburgh, Glasgow, and London. Roberts collaborated with Clarkson Stanfield on dioramas and panoramas. Like other painters of the time, he traveled abroad for fascinating subjects, including Spain and Morocco. Roberts explored the Near East in 1838, becoming one of the first British artists to experience the Orient firsthand. His compositions, depicted in 247 lithographs by Louis Haghe, gained wide popularity. Roberts became ARA in 1838 and RA in 1841.
