John Warwick Smith

Named for his benefactor, the Earl of Warwick, John “Warwick” Smith executed this small, highly finished work after returning from his five-year tour of Italy in 1781. The composition is distinctly classical, consisting of foreground flora, tiny figures for scale, and a curving road that leads the eye of the viewer from foreground to background. The artist’s careful pen work clearly describes Assisi’s individual buildings, while at the same time his simplified color palette of blues and greens places an overall emphasis on shapes and broad masses.