Richard Parkes Bonington was born in Arnold near Nottingham, the son of a portrait painter of indifferent talent and quixotic temperament. In autumn 1817, the family established a lace manufactur-ing business in Calais, where Bonington studied watercolor painting briefly with the Anglo-French artist <a href=" https://findartvalue.com/artist/francois-louis-thomas-francia">Louis Francia</a> (1772-18