Samuel Read moved to London in 1841 to study wood engraving under J.W. Whymper. In 1843 he started to send architectural drawings to the Royal Academy for exhibition and in 1844 he began drawing for the Illustrated London News.

He was the first artist special correspondent and was sent to Constantinople in 1853 to cover the Crimean War. He travelled extensively in Europe, particularly in Germany and Italy and visited Toledo in 1862, the presumed date of this drawing. An interior of Toledo Cathedral is in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum (1125-1886) and several views of Burgos cathedral are also recorded. He exhibited frequently at the Royal Society for Painters in Water Colour and in 1875 he published Leaves from a Sketchbook.

Examples of his work, which can be reminiscent of that of David Roberts, can be found in the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Reading Art Gallery.