David Roberts

Caen – The Artists – Roberts, David

This page forms part of a series of pages dedicated to the many artists who painted in Caen. A full list of all the artists with a link to their works can be found at the bottom of this page.

David Roberts (1796 – 1864) was a Scottish painter. He started out as a house painter and decorator, but took an interest in painting.

His speciality became the Middle East, and he travelled extensively there. But to reach these far remote places, he needed to travel through France. And therefore he painted quite a lot of scenes he encountered.

In the autumn of 1824 he visited Normandy. His paintings based on this trip began to lay the foundation of his reputation; one of them, a view of Rouen Cathedral, sold for 80 guineas.

During the second part of the 1820s, and in addition to English and Scottish scenes, Roberts painted views of prominent buildings in France and the Low Countries including Amiens, Caen, Dieppe, Rouen, Antwerp, Brussels and Ghent, sometimes making several paintings of the same scene with only minor variations.

Click here to read Roberts’ full bio in Wikipedia.

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NOTE: A black box like this one, means that there is an explanation text about today’s situation of the painting above it.
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David Roberts 1824 - View of the choir of Saint-Jean church, Caen
1824 – David Roberts – View of the choir of Saint-Jean church, Caen
David Roberts 1830 - St-Pierre, Caen
1830 – David Roberts – St-Pierre, Caen

TODAY: The Saint-Pierre church is still a prominent landmark, located next to the Caen fortress.

David Roberts 1830 - At the foot of the Saint-Pierre de Caen church
1830 – David Roberts – At the foot of the Saint-Pierre of Caen church
1830 - David Roberts - Interior of the church of St.-Saveur, Caen
1830 – David Roberts – Interior of the church of St.-Saveur, Caen

TODAY: The Saint-Saveur church is still there, and inside has not changed much.

David Roberts 1830 - The Lady Chapel, Church of St-Pierre, Caen
1832 – David Roberts – The Lady Chapel, Church of St-Pierre, Caen
???? - David Roberts    The Church of St.-Pierre, Caen
???? – David Roberts – The Church of St.-Pierre, Caen
???? - David Roberts - The Interior of the Saint-Saveur Church, Caen
???? – David Roberts – The Interior of the Saint-Saveur Church, Caen
???? - David Roberts - The Lady Chapel at the Church of St-Pierre, Caen
???? – David Roberts – The Lady Chapel at the Church of St-Pierre, Caen
1850 - David Roberts - Caen, Cathedral interior
1850 – David Roberts – Caen, Cathedral interior

David Roberts painted several places in France, a link “” to those cities will appear below when published:

  • Bourgogne-Franche-Comte (Burgundy)
    • Dijon
  • Brittany
    • Dinan
  • Centre-Val de Loire
    • Bourges
    • Chambord
  • Hauts-de-France
    • Abbeville
    • Amiens
  • Normandy
  • Nouvelle-Aquitaine
  • Pays de la Loire
    • Saumur

Artists featured here who painted in Caen (but not limited to) are (a link “” will be placed next to an artist name when their works are published. A “*” means that the artist did NOT work in Caen itself, instead worked in nearby villages and towns):

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