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The Kila Kona Masjid, Purana Qila, Delhi
Hand-painted oil reproduction from $181 37 × 27 cm
Same size as the original $392 106 × 75 cm Order at original size →
Robert Smith's most famous painting is The Kila Kona Masjid, Purana Qila, Delhi (1823), in the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven. Our catalogue lists 2 works by Robert Smith; the 2 below are the ones the world looks at most, each with its year, the museum that holds it and why it matters.
Ranked by our popularity score, which combines the searches, visits and orders for each work. Updated November 2026. Every masterpiece on this page can be ordered as a museum-quality, hand-painted oil reproduction or a fine art print, at the size you choose.
The museum that holds the most of the paintings on this page.
| Museum | City | Works by Robert Smith | Paintings from this list |
|---|---|---|---|
 Yale Center for British Art |
New Haven | 2 | The Kila Kona Masjid, Purana Qila, Delhi, Inside the Main Entrance of the Purana Qila, Delhi |
All of Robert Smith's dated works on this page come from 1823: here are the most famous of them.
The Kila Kona Masjid, Purana Qila, Delhi (1823).
36 years old: The Kila Kona Masjid, Purana Qila, Delhi dates from 1823 and Robert Smith was born in 1787.
Our catalogue lists 2 works by Robert Smith.
Most of them are in Yale Center for British Art (New Haven). The table above lists the museums one by one.
In 1823: 2 of the 2 works on this page date from then, among them The Kila Kona Masjid, Purana Qila, Delhi.
The Kila Kona Masjid, Purana Qila, Delhi and Inside the Main Entrance of the Purana Qila, Delhi are among the 2 works on this page held by the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven.
Yes. Every painting on this page can be ordered as a museum-quality, hand-painted oil reproduction or a fine art print, in the size you choose, from the painting's own page.
Bideford, Devon, holds the origin of a man whose life was defined by lines, measurements, and the expansion of empire. Born in 1787, Robert Smith does not enter history as a professional painter, but as a Colonel of the Bengal Engineers. His hands were trained for the precision of the East India Company, tasked with surveying frontiers and managing the structural integrity of fortifications. Between 1805 and 1833, his world was shaped by the geography of India. He moves through landscapes of dust and stone, serving as an aide-de-camp to Sir George Nugent and conducting surveys across the Mirzapur area and the Delhi frontier.
The transition from technical drafting to artistic expression happens in the quiet intervals of military service. In 1814 and 1818, while stationed as Superintending Engineer in Penang, his focus shifts toward the documentation of Prince of Wales Island. He utilizes pencil, watercolour, and eventually oils to capture the architecture and the movement of people. These sketches are not mere records; they possess a specific structural clarity. His work captures the weight of buildings and the animation of groups in the foreground, often rendered with an intense attention to architectural detail.
The rhythm of his life follows the movement of troops and the demands of engineering. He is present during the Nepal War from 1815 to 1816, acting as a field engineer amidst conflict. Later, in Delhi, he applies his technical expertise to the restoration of Islamic monuments. His visual output expands beyond the Indian subcontinent to include views of Constantinople, specifically the Sarayburnu from Galata. The medium changes too; some of his more significant works are executed on copper, suggesting a period of creation in Europe, perhaps near Nice.
His later years see a retreat to more settled landscapes, though the memory of India remains central. After retiring to England in 1833, he lives in Bideford and later Paignton, Devon, where he builds Redclyffe Towers. His domestic spaces are filled with his own views, a personal collection intended to remind him of the terrain that occupied his career. Even as he settles into life in England and travels through Italy and France, the architectural precision of his earlier surveys remains the foundation of his visual legacy.
While Smith never sought the public eye or exhibition halls, his records remain held in significant repositories. His sketches and paintings are preserved within the following institutions:
His work exists as a bridge between the surveyor's map and the artist's observation. The technical accuracy required for his role in the Bengal Engineers informs every stroke of his watercolour and oil. He leaves behind a documented history of 19th-century landscapes, from the explosion of the magazine at Bharatpur to the quiet streets of Lucknow.