Richard Wilson

Wilson studied in London under Thomas Wright, one of the respected portrait painters of the time. He himself trained as a portrait painter, but around 1750 his career took a new direction when he travelled to Italy. He became proficient in Italian and usually stayed in places frequented by wealthy English tourists, where he guided his compatriots around historical sights and gave lectures on architecture. As a shrewd businessman he then made charcoal drawings or paintings of the places and sold them to the tourists, who could thus take home a souvenir.

From the page of Snowdon from Llyn Nantlle