Richard Smirke

Richard Smirke (1778–1815) was an English antiquarian draughtsman.

Born in 1778, he studied painting in the schools of the Royal Academy, where in 1799 he gained the gold medal with a picture of Samson and Delilah. But his tastes led him to the study of ancient works of art and historical costume, and he became a highly skilful antiquarian draughtsman.[1] When the wall paintings in St. Stephen's Chapel, Westminster, were discovered in 1800, Smirke made a set of facsimile copies of them in watercolours, on a small scale, which are now in the possession of the Society of Antiquaries; he was afterwards employed by the society on similar work. He gave much time to the study of chemistry, and made some discoveries in the qualities of colour. He died at the Howard Arms Inn.[1]

References

  1. 1 2  Lee, Sidney, ed. (1897). "Smirke, Robert (1752-1845)". Dictionary of National Biography 52. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
Attribution

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Lee, Sidney, ed. (1897). "Smirke, Robert (1752-1845)". Dictionary of National Biography 52. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, May 23, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.