Original antique engraving by Thomas Malton showing the front elevation of St Martin's In The Fields from St. Martin's Lane
Thomas Malton was an English painter of topographical and architectural views, and an engraver.
J. M. W. Turner and Thomas Girtin were amongst his pupils.
Malton was born in London, the son of Thomas Malton the Elder, a notable architectural draughtsman and writer on geometry. He was with his father during the latter's residence in Dublin, and then passed three years in the office of James Gandon the architect, in London.
In 1774 Malton received a scholarship from the Society of Arts. After completing his studies there, he entered the Royal Academy and in 1782 gained a gold medal for his design for a theatre. In 1773 he sent the Academy a view of Covent Garden, and was afterwards a constant exhibitor, chiefly of views of London streets and buildings, drawn in Indian ink and tinted. In these, there is little attempt at pictorial effect, but their extreme accuracy in the architectural details renders them of great interest and value as topographical records. They are enlivened with groups of figures, in which Malton is said to have been assisted by Francis Wheatley.
