Sir David Wilkie (1785–1841) was born in Fife, the son of a rural minister. He studied at the Trustees' Academy in Edinburgh then entered the Royal Academy schools in London in 1805, exhibited there from 1806, and was elected a royal academician in 1811. He found great success as a genre painter, influenced by the Dutch genre painters, specialising in narrative detail and shrewd observation of character.

Between 1825 and 1828 he visited Italy, Germany, Switzerland, and Spain—where he was particularly taken with the work of Velázquez and Murillo. Wilkie thereafter developed a much broader and bolder style and a stronger use of colour. His subjects moved away from the humble scenes of the genre painter to grander scenes from history.

Wilkie famously died at sea off Gibraltar after falling ill en route to Britain. His body was consigned to the deep in the Bay of Gibraltar and his death was commemorated by the Turner in the oil painting 'Peace—Burial at Sea'.