Explore: John Scarlett Davis

(1804 - 1845)

John Scarlett Davis was born in Leominster, Herefordshire. In 1818 he moved to London to study at Paul de la Pierre’s Academy and later at the Royal Academy Schools. He established himself as a portrait painter, before later becoming known for paintings of architectural interiors. Davis worked in Yorkshire during the late 1820s and travelled in Europe from 1830 to 1842. With commissions from patrons in Britain he visited France, Germany, Italy and the Low Countries, painting views of picture galleries and churches. The British Ambassador in Paris, Lord Stuart de Rothesay, provided a personal letter of introduction for the cities he passed through. He returned from Rome in 1842 and died in London three years later.