Wright was the first truly talented British painter to make a successful career by choice outside London. Most of his pictures were either of or for the growing middle classes prospering from the Industrial Revolution. His visit to Italy in 1773-75 provided sufficient material for him to paint views of Italy for the rest of his life. The Lake of Albano and its surrounding countryside were much admired by British tourists visiting Italy in the eighteenth century. The relaxed figures in the foreground imbue the grand sweep of the lake with an air of contentment.
