The Marriage of Katherine and Petruchio, from The Taming of the Shrew

Stanfield had a long and varied career. Initially apprenticed to a coach painter, he ran away to sea and was then pressed into naval service. On his return to Britain in 1816 he gained employment in Edinburgh and London theatres as a scenery painter, where he met and became close friends with David Roberts. Almost entirely self-taught, he quickly gained a reputation for his talent. The influence of the theatre can clearly be seen in his monumental, dramatic landscapes, painted on a grand scale, such as those by him on display in Royal Holloway’s Picture Gallery.

Stanfield was elected a member of the Sketching Society in 1829. The Society’s minutes reveal he was often absent due to scene-painting, tours, as well as ‘idleness’. Despite his frequent absences, he attended 446 meetings between his election and the Society’s demise in 1851.

On his death, his close friend Charles Dickens remembered Stanfield as ‘the soul of frankness, generosity, and simplicity. The most genial, the most affectionate, the most loving, and the most loveable of men.’